tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28933025891220521702018-12-13T02:05:01.430-08:00I Heart SCV...for those who love to hate life in the Santa Clarita ValleyA Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.comBlogger319125IHeartSCVhttps://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-44555598437575015712017-01-25T13:25:00.003-08:002017-01-25T13:25:57.307-08:00Smyth Shaping Pot, Arts, Homeless AgendasAt tonight's meeting of the Santa Clarita City Council, Mayor Cameron Smyth distinguished himself from his fellow councilmembers in small but suggestive ways. Smyth suggested that it's time to "evolve" on the issue of marijuana, though like his fellow members, he was still in favor of an emergency ordinance limiting its presence in Santa Clarita. Making Old Town Newhall an arts district is the pet project of several councilmembers, but Smyth made it clear that he didn't want to micromanage things when he pointed out how odd it was for the City to lease and manage a theater for the arts--he still voted for the action, though. In the past, the council wouldn't even give former Councilmember TimBen Boydston the support to agendize/discuss homelessness. But tonight, Smyth suggested and earned support for an <em>ad hoc</em> homelessness committee from the very people who stymied Boydston. In short, Smyth is using the mantle of mayorhood much more proactively than his predecessors. He votes with the majority while nudging the trajectory of futures votes and policies. Let's recap.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><strong>No Fuss, No Frills Oath of Office</strong><br /><br />Councilmember McLean giggled as she began tonight's invocation, noting that she was going to make two totally unrelated remarks. The first consisted of reading the dictionary definition of "perception". "How does perception become the reality?" she asked with all the profundity she could muster. McLean didn't mention the specific words or actions that she felt had been unfairly perceived (it probably had something to do with filling the vacant council seat by the appointment of establishment-friendly Bill Miranda rather than by allowing citizens to votes). In any case, her second remark was more patronizing than political. She praised volunteers, quoting someone who said, "Volunteers are not paid not because they are worthless but because they are priceless."&nbsp; <br />With extremely little fanfare (not even so much as an introduction--just an invitation for Miranda's family members to join him), Mayor Cameron Smyth announced that it was time for Bill Miranda to take the Oath of Office. He did, there was applause, and new Councilmember Miranda made very succinct remarks, promising, "I will do my best to serve the City of Santa Clarita." That was it.&nbsp; <br />The lack of fuss over Miranda was underscored by the excess of fuss over titles recently bestowed upon this fair city. Santa Clarita earned the designation of "Runner Friendly Community", and there were speeches, a 5-minute video, and effusive statements and applause. But that was nothing in comparison to the unbridled celebration of Santa Clarita being named LA County's "Most Business Friendly City." Almost every councilmember had something to say about Santa Clarita's amazingly business-friendly environment. The Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation's Holly Schroeder said that they had added some 2,000 jobs over the past year. She gushed about Scorpion, an Internet marketing and technology services company, which is staying in Santa Clarita as it continues to grow. In short, a lot of running trails and an IT company got more fanfare than Miranda. Perhaps the council was trying to minimize any appearances of affection for the newest councilmember in light of inevitable comments about the appointment process to come during public participation.&nbsp; <br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><strong>More Miranda</strong><br />Elaine Ballace was the first speaker during the public participation segment of the meeting. "You are business friendly...but it seems to be at the cost of people," she observed. Ballace criticized the appointment of Bill Miranda instead of holding a special election to fill the vacant seat, saying, "It seemed that it was already pre-chosen...there should have been an election...you have the money." Both Ballace and Cam Noltemeyer would also ask that the council discuss the expansion of Chiquita Canyon Landfill. It won't.&nbsp; <br />The next speaker was a woman who described how unpleasant it is to deal with code enforcement--it's a sentiment heard a few times a year in one form or another. Her particular case involved a very tall wall that apparently didn't meet local construction standards, but which she said had survived the Northridge Earthquake and which contractors had told her was structurally sound. Since it would cost her $50,000 to $100,000 to replace it, she asked for special consideration from the city--McLean made sure someone would work with her. <br />A self-identified 20-something noted that there are no night trains on weekends to/from LA (well, unless you want to call it a night at 8 pm). You could see Councilmember McLean perk up excitedly at the mention of a train--and by a young person, no less!--because rail-based transportation is one of her favorite subjects. She even told him not to leave after making his comment because she would address it later.<br />Finally, Steve Petzold made some remarks that related to the appointment of Bill Miranda. He said that the City should have a contingency fund to pay for special elections--that way, it wouldn't be able to make the excuse that "it's too expensive!" to justify an appointment over an election. Petzold also warned the City about the possibility of another voting rights lawsuit. On the Talk of Santa Clarita podcast, Stephen Daniels recently interviewed Kevin Shenkman, who has filed such suits in the past, and Shenkman's continued "interest" in the valley had Petzold very concerned about the prospect of losing more money in legal fees, legal battles, and settlements.<br />Staff and councilmembers spoke next--words were brief and wide-ranging. Councilmember Bob Kellar asked for an agenda item relating to a proclamation against hatred or bigotry--it was a bit vague, but the request came in response to a push by a few residents in prior weeks for Santa Clarita to make some kind of anti-hate proclamation. Kellar noted that this has always been Santa Clarita's stance, but he was happy to indulge the request. Councilmember Marsha McLean invited the young transportation enthusiast to attend a Metro meeting and make his voice heard. City Manager Ken Striplin described "several hundred tons of sand and boulders" that came down Iron Canyon in the recent heavy rains. The flows were strong enough to breach two retention structures, but damage will be addressed. "You did a marvelous job with your rain dance," Mayor Pro Tem Weste said to the people of Santa Clarita in light of all the storms.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><strong>CONSENT CALENDAR</strong><br />There were many items on the consent calendar but only a few attracted comments. Item 6 recommended that the City agree to a $166,000 lease of the currently vacant Repertory East Playhouse in Old Town Newhall. The space would function as a center for the arts community to make use of. Patti Rasmussen came up to speak on this item, but most of her remarks had to do with her own pet project of the Newhall Auditorium, which is a larger, nearby facility undergoing restoration. Item 7 recommended $180,000 in community arts and services grants, and TimBen Boydston spoke in support of this support for the arts--Boydston and the Canyon Theatre Guild that he directs have received these grants in the past.&nbsp; Al Ferdman spoke on an item relating to financial practices and auditing. He identified some budgetary deficiencies or potential problems that he asked to be addressed in light of the past embezzlement scandal. Other consent calendar items that weren't commented on included increasing the amount of funds for a job training center and a contract to replace the roof at the Santa Clarita Sports Complex. <br />On the matter of the theater, Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste said that she was concerned that the theater space was too small to be a center for the arts, but she said it would suffice for the time being. She didn't want it to be turned into retail space and was happy that the City was supporting the arts community. Mayor Cameron Smyth had a markedly different view, saying, "This is a new tangent." He didn't think that leasing and running theaters was a core duty of local government, so he wasn't particularly supportive of the idea of leasing and essentially micro-managing the arts scene in Newhall. He still voted with the other councilmembers, but only because the theater lease is relatively modest and short-term. City Manager Ken Striplin reassured Al Ferdman that the City actively monitors its financial practices and has outside audits.&nbsp; <br />The consent calendar was approved with all of the recommended actions by all councilmembers.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><strong>Committee Me This</strong><br />Mayor Smyth made some adjustments to committee appointments for the various councilmembers. Most committees stayed the same or made customary swaps (e.g., mayor always serves on certain committees). In the past, Councilmember Marsha McLean has been the most vocal about committees because she relishes service on some of them and can never seem to have enough. Smyth wisely gave her a bunch, and she seemed satisfied. There was an objection from Al Ferdman about lobbyist and electronic billboard enthusiast Arthur Sohikian serving on the North County Transportation Coalition, but Ken Striplin pointed out that one seat has to be filled by a non-councilmember, and Marsha McLean said that Sohikian works for the city's interests. "I don't want to use the word 'lobby'," she said, but that's what he seems to do to get Santa Clarita's fair share. <br />Mayor Smyth said that he thought an <em>ad hoc</em> committee on homelessness was needed, and McLean and Miranda were happy to support this idea and offer to help. When former Councilmember TimBen Boydston tried to open up a discussion on this very topic in the past, he could get no support from his fellow councilmembers. <br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><strong>Emergencies: Pot and Seniors</strong><br />Two emergency ordinances were discussed at the end of the meeting. The first prohibited marijuana in Santa Clarita insomuch as it's possible after the passing of Prop 64. Councilmember Bill Miranda said that while he may not agree with the full proposition, he acknowledged that the people of California have spoken and wondered if an emergency ordinance was merely a "delaying tactic" putting off the inevitable arrival of the legal recreational marijuana industry. Mayor Smyth took it a step further, stating that he has met with people who make a living in industries in some way related to marijuana, and stating that delivery businesses and manufacturing businesses might be more welcome than, say, recreational retail shops. He was very careful about his phrasing and said that he supported the emergency ordinance for now, but he did ask whether it was indeed time to "begin to evolve our thinking" on pot. City Attorney Joe Montes wondered about how state and federal marijuana policies would mesh, but he told the council that they could alter marijuana policies even with the emergency ordinance in place. Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste tried to "clarify" (i.e., constrain) Smyth's words by suggesting that he was drawing a line between a medically necessary pharmaceutical and a recreational drug. For now, the emergency ordinance goes on. Ultimately, though, it seems as if Miranda and Smyth are not as steadfastly and reflexively anti-marijuana as the others.&nbsp; &nbsp; <br />A second emergency ordinance extended a prohibition on converting senior mobile home parks to family mobile home parks. The former are defined as parks in which at least 80% of residents are 55 or older, and they are more affordable. Park owners usually try to convert park types because they can ask higher rents at family parks. A few speakers thanked the city for extending protection of seniors, and most of the council was outspoken in support of keeping senior home parks from converting. Councilmember Miranda voted "Absolutely!" instead of a mere "yes" to extend the ordinance. Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste was also deeply supportive, saying seniors have no where else to go. <br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H29NkFFc9_0/WIkXvxTuJTI/AAAAAAAAD0E/VbLG3oc0Wk8hvOFUnyf-mySq0W8Ws51PQCLcB/s1600/Weste.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H29NkFFc9_0/WIkXvxTuJTI/AAAAAAAAD0E/VbLG3oc0Wk8hvOFUnyf-mySq0W8Ws51PQCLcB/s400/Weste.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Before the meeting ended, TimBen Boydston came up to make a strongly worded comment about what Weste had said about theaters and the city's role in the arts. He said he was disturbed that she wanted to exert so much control, but Councilmember McLean suggested part of the disagreement might be confusion over what Weste wanted for the Rep versus the Auditorium. One can be confident that Boydston will let us know what he thinks as matters continue to develop. The meeting ended just after 8:30.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/4mB08Rxc4WA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com8http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2017/01/smyth-shaping-pot-arts-homeless-agendas.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-80806343934229207572017-01-11T13:04:00.003-08:002017-01-11T13:04:58.417-08:00New Commish Appointments, Mayoral TweetsIt's a new year, a new mayor, and a new recap, at least inasmuch as anything "new" can ever really happen in Santa Clarita.&nbsp; The main on-the-record highlight was Mayor Cameron Smyth and Councilmember Bob Kellar appointing various Claritans to various commissions. The main off-the-record highlight was unusually playful banter between a councilmember and public speaker. With just four members of the City Council, all of whom get along and aren't looking to stir the pot, the meeting lasted only one hour. Let's recap. <br /><br /><br /><b>Artistic Achievement&nbsp;</b> <br /><br />Mayor Smyth's invocation was a somber one. He asked for a moment of silence in observation of a local 14-year-old's recent suicide. Smyth said the tragedy hit particularly close to home because his own son is 13 years old, and he expressed his sincere sympathy for the affected family.<br /><br />Awards and presentations followed the flag salute. Both of tonight's honors fell under the category of the arts--some students were recognized for drawing pictures about the dangers of distracted driving, and city staff were recognized for excellence in web design. Instead of the usual round-robin of reading copy about local, upcoming events, Mayor Smyth read through the whole list of announcements, which included the Cowboy Festival and a count of homeless people. Eulogizing duties were shared among the councilmembers, and individual reports from councilmembers were pushed back a bit later into the meeting than has been the norm. <br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Public Participation</b><br /><br />All the regulars showed up tonight. Al Ferdman spoke about the water supply. There's a need for groundwater sustainability planning now (dictated by the State), but Ferdman wondered about whether existing urban use/planning documents could be updated instead of starting from scratch. He also sought clarification on the respective roles of the relevant parties, especially the City, County, and the CLWA. Cam Noltemeyer switched the topic to trash, asking Cameron Smyth to agendize discussion of Chiquita Canyon Landfill. She pointed out that the City of Santa Clarita frequently gets involved in issues outside of city boundaires, but it has long avoided wading into the Chiquita mess on the grounds that it's outside the city. Elaine Ballace spoke on a few topics, one of which was asking where the pay-for-grocery-bag fees went. She reported that at least one store clerk had told her the money went to the City, though she was informed that this was an erroneous statement by Councilmember Marsha McLean.<br /><b> </b><br />Steve Petzold brought up the big issue of who is going to take Assemblyman Dante Acosta's former seat. He said that many speakers at the previous meeting, most of the participants in an online poll by <i>The Signal</i>, and he himself felt that a special election would be superior to an appointment by the councilmembers. To help bolster his point, he mentioned the possible threat of another lawsuit by Kevin Shenkman because the City still hasn't gone to district-based voting and because an appointment might not be viewed as the most equitable means of filling a vacancy.<br /><br />Stacy Fortner began her comments tonight with a special request of Mayor Cameron Smyth. I've transcribed it to the best of my abilities below:&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>FORTNER:</b> "First of all, it's Julie Olson's birthday today, so, Happy Birthday, Julie! [turns to face companion in audience, applauds; continues, coyly] And Cam, I was hoping...maybe...you could sing 'Happy Birthday'...to Julie?"<br /><b>SMYTH:</b> "You know I'm more of a rapper..."<br /><b>FORTNER:</b> "Yeah, oh? Even better! I'll even cede my three minutes..." [gestures with arm as if transferring her speaking time to the mayor]<br /><b>SMYTH:</b> "As an artist, you know, you understand, as an artist, you can't just turn it on like that. I have to have some inspiration, so tonight, I'm a little bit, just not feeling right tonight."<br /><b>FORNTER:</b> [nodding understandingly] "Maybe a little later."<br /><b>SMYTH:</b> "Yeah I need a little more notice so I..."<br /><b>FORNTER:</b> "We'd like to see you get jiggy with it." [reference to 1998 composition by Will Smith]<br /><b>SMYTH:</b> [defensively] "I can..."<br /><b>KELLAR:</b> [interrupting] "There's a 'Sweet Lord!' if I ever heard one."<br /><br />Clearly, such playfulness would not have been abided under the formerly Kellerian Council. Fortner then got to her more material remarks, explaining that she was also curious as to why the council wasn't more seriously considering the&nbsp; option of a special election to fill Acosta's seat.<br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin responded to most of the speakers with his usual brisk efficiency.<br /><br /><br /><b>A Bridge Broad Enough for Bikes</b><br /><br />The consent calendar was very short. One item awarded a contract for the widening of the Newhall Ranch Road bridge, which currently narrows Newhall Ranch Road from eight lanes down to six,&nbsp; impeding the flow of traffic.&nbsp; For approximately $11.4M (plus contingencies and supporting funds), the bridge is going to be widened. Nina Moskol, chair of the Santa Clarita Valley Bicycle Coalition, came up to speak in support of the measure because it will include accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians.<br /><br />There were a few other items on the consent calendar, including adding one additional motor deputy and forming a new landscape maintenance district zone. All items were approved with the recommended actions.<br /><br /><br /><b>Commissioners Appointed</b><br /><br /><br />James Farley came up to speak before Bob Kellar and Cameron Smyth made their picks for city commissions. Farley dedicated a lot of time to researching the open space district assessment when it passed many years ago, and he reminded the council that he has always worked to protect the interests of taxpayers and to make sure that land acquisition guidelines are followed. During his time on the Open Space <span class="st">Financial Accountability and Audit Panel, he reminded Kellar and Smyth, he found a recommended purchase that fell outside the allowable area for land acquisitions--that is, he corrected staff on having not followed the assessment spending regulations properly. He was also the only person to show up to lobby for a (re-)appointment tonight.</span><br /><span class="st"><br /></span><span class="st">He didn't get it.&nbsp; Instead, Councilmember Kellar and Cameron Smyth made the following appointments:</span><br /><span class="st"><br /></span><span class="st"><b>ARTS:</b> John Down (Kellar), Vanessa Wilk (Smyth)</span><br /><span class="st"><b>PARKS:</b> Donald Cruikshank (Kellar), Kieran Wong (Smyth)</span><br /><span class="st"><b>PLANNING:</b> Chuck Heffernan (Kellar), Renee Berlin (Smyth)</span><br /><span class="st"><b>OPEN SPACE:</b> Frederick Andre Hollings (Kellar), Henry Rodriguez (Smyth)</span><br /><span class="st"><br /></span><span class="st">Interestingly, Smyth said of the open space accountability panel that, "Adding he [Henry Rodriguez] and Andre [Hollings] to that board is going to be a real dynamic board where you're going to see a lot of great activity." Since the board's essential activity is seeing whether all provisions are being appropriately followed, I'm not sure how dynamic it's going to become. In any case, everyone approved the nominations.</span><br /><span class="st"><br /></span><span class="st">Before the meeting ended, Lynne Plambeck asked people to come to a hearing on Newhall Ranch development (she called it outdated "dinosaur planning") at Rio Pico Junior High School this Thursday evening. <i>The Signal</i> is having a forum for city council candidates the same night, which she found unfortunate over-scheduling of one evening as both events will impact the City's future.</span><br /><span class="st"><br /></span><span class="st">The meeting then ended. Since little of substance happened, the real takeaway tonight was a character study of Cameron Smyth. He's been gone for quite a while, but he reminded people that he likes to make his presence known and that he is willing to directly engage the public far more fully than anyone since, say, Frank Ferry. One means of doing this is Twitter; he reads tweets during the meeting--well, at least during tonight's rather slow meeting. I know this because I and others live-tweet the meetings (use #SCCouncil to follow along), and Smyth liked and/or re-tweeted some of the tweets while it was still going on. This opens up a new avenue of very direct, very real-time access to the mayor that I could see being used to influence future, contentious votes. We'll see. </span><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/zOiSLeqQ66E" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com4http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2017/01/new-commish-appointments-mayoral-tweets.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-11880591016613802832016-12-27T13:35:00.001-08:002016-12-27T13:35:04.295-08:00New Year's Eve Countdown...of Birds<div class="MsoNormal">A century ago, Christmas wasn’t all that different from today—carols, feasting, family. But there was one custom that’s all but disappeared. The side-hunt, as it was known, involved a walk through the countryside to shoot every bird in sight; he who shot the most, won. Things slowly began to change in 1900. At the urging of Frank Chapman, an ornithologist with the American Museum of Natural History, people went out and identified and counted birds instead of shooting them. That first year, there were 27 counters. For this, the 117<sup>th</sup> annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), there will be around 70,000 counters, approximately 20 of whom will tally birds in Santa Clarita.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Though the Santa Clarita Christmas Bird Count is young compared to most CBC circles—this is only its 14<sup>th</sup> year—the numbers already tell the story of our changing valley. California Quail have declined markedly. From 2003-2005, the average count was 272 quail per year. From 2013-2015, it was a mere 46. Meanwhile, numbers of the copper-colored Allen’s Hummingbird are fast catching up to the more familiar, green and pink Anna’s Hummingbird. From 2003-2005, the average count was 5 Allen’s Hummingbirds per year. From 2013-2015, the average shot up to to 44. Why is Santa Clarita becoming bad for quail but good for hummingbirds? We can’t say for certain, but a likely contributor is development. Exotic, blossom-filled landscapes and medians planted in flowering Eucalyptus provide nectar to Allen’s Hummingbirds all winter long, but the wildflower seeds that quail relish aren’t as abundant as once they were. When Santa Clarita’s data is combined with data from more than 2,000 other count circles, some of which have been faithfully done for well over 100 years, you come to realize that the CBC is effectively taking the pulse of America’s bird populations. How are they doing? That's the big question.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JoQldjjb3z8/WGLeUgCNA0I/AAAAAAAADz0/beNRoVFIYLAfjGAsf-LT1A4IOwvjeBiAACLcB/s1600/QuailPop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JoQldjjb3z8/WGLeUgCNA0I/AAAAAAAADz0/beNRoVFIYLAfjGAsf-LT1A4IOwvjeBiAACLcB/s640/QuailPop.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">It’s a lot of fun, too. Bird people are wonderfully quirky. Most you’ll meet can instantly identify any of hundreds of species of birds almost immediately by sight or even by hearing a single chirp. It gets a little competitive trying to track down rare birds and count them all—everyone comes back to the count compilation lunch with their tallies and stories. I’ve done the count every year, and I’ve never regretted spending a morning chasing Claritan birds. Think about giving it a try this year. Even if you don’t know a Rock Wren from a Canyon Wren, you can get teamed up with some experienced birders and learn a lot. It’s the morning of New Year’s Eve (this Saturday). For more information, visit the unofficially official California CBC website and you’ll get count compiler Brian Bielfeldt’s email (<a href="http://www.natureali.org/cbcs.htm">http://www.natureali.org/cbcs.htm</a>), plus learn about other CBCs. Hope to see you at the count!</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/PG7b8xTQTjM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com2http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/12/new-years-eve-countdownof-birds.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-65712800146535044922016-08-23T21:05:00.000-07:002016-08-23T21:05:07.557-07:00Embezzler, Butchery, WallVivaldi. It's always Vivaldi's <i>The Four Seasons</i> that plays while waiting for the broadcast of the Santa Clarita City Council meetings to begin. Who really needs such a forceful reminder of time's passing--or is it times passing? All those frantic violins. Don't worry, we're getting to the recap. But my council-watching mind, atrophied by six blissfully meetingless weeks, is loath to start. Yet start we must. For tonight, the embezzlement scandal was covered, the war memorial wall was accepted, and business as usual returned to the SCV. <br /><br /><b>Oak Butchers</b><br /><br />"We ran a little longer in closed session than we anticipated," apologized Mayor Bob Kellar as the meeting kicked off 18 minutes late. Councilmember TimBen Boydston, who had tonight's invocation, chose to open the meeting by reading a prayer for Labor Day and asking that God bless the City of Santa Clarita.<br /><br />Awards and recognitions followed and had a decidedly international flair. Two student artists were lauded for their entries in the Sister Cities International program (Santa Clarita's sister cities are Tena, Ecuador and Sariaya, Philippines). Then, a delegation of students and others that went to Nicaragua for a school and literacy program was thanked for their outreach. <br /><br />Five speakers came to the podium for public participation. First up was Al Ferdman. He had reviewed the recent report on the embezzlement case that rocked City Hall earlier this year (about a half-million dollars was taken by a former employee, split among some 58 different checks over a long time period). Based on the report, he characterized the City's financial operations as rife with "lax practices" that had allowed for embezzlement to take place unnoticed for far too long. "You should be directly involved in oversight!" he chided the City Council. Reena Newhall, a small-business owner and matriarch of Santa Clarita's royal family, spoke about problems anticipated to result from $15/hr minimum wage. Lynne Plambeck complained about the fact that the City of Santa Clarita has begun to landscape street trees in Happy Valley. She described it as being charged $50 a year for unwanted oak tree trimming that was so excessive that it violated the City's own oak tree ordinance; her beloved oaks now stand "butchered." Cam Noltemeyer described a strange meeting relating to Santa Clarita's development and open space dealings, and Doug Fraser expressed some concerns about the makeup of Santa Clarita's mobile home park rent adjustment panel membership. Fraser is concerned about who the fifth member will be. Finally, a mobile home park resident asked about a leasing contract she has that she feels hasn't been used fairly. <br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin said that the employee who had embezzled funds is facing eight felony charges and could be imprisoned for up to 14 years. "We take this very seriously," he promised, and he stated that they have already "tightened up things" based on the full investigation and an audit. Striplin told Plambeck that staff would double-check on the apparently excessive vigor with which arborists seem to have been trimming heritage oak trees. He closed his responses by telling Fraser that they weren't far enough along on the mobile home park panel process to meaningfully discuss the fifth member position.<br /><br />Councilmember updates were long and wide-ranging--fires, social events, potholes. There were a lot of deaths to be remembered, perhaps most notably the sad passing of 21st District Senator Sharon Runner.<br /><br />TimBen Boydston had the most to say during his turn. He wanted to talk more about the embezzlement. He said that he took the theft of a half-million dollars very seriously. He felt personally ashamed and apologetic because they checks had been on the register for him and the other members of the council to see. He apologized. It was all beginning to be a bit much, and then it became even more. He said that he had questions for the group that has produced an audit of a couple hundred pages covering the embezzlement and the City's financial practices. But Boydston said that City Attorney Joe Montes had stopped him from questioning the auditors, and this deeply troubled Boydston. He felt that he couldn't fulfill his duties to the public. Montes explained that an audit had been commissioned and delivered, and that the whole council would have to agree to request responses to a new line of questions or at least be able to hear the answers to Boydston's questions. Thus, Boydston asked for support for this line of action from the other members. No one gave him that support. Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta felt that there had been enough independent review, and he said that the City's insurance company would be investigating as well and had a vested interest in finding any weaknesses that could be corrected to minimize its liabilities. Councilmember Marsha McLean said that she knew the embezzlement was a major source of embarrassment for City Manager Ken Striplin and knew that it was being addressed. Mayor Kellar said that most staff members were quite trsutworthy and that this one incident shouldn't be all-consuming: "Folks, let's get this behind us."<br /><br />This led Boydston to pursue his questions at tonight's meeting instead. Kellar again tried to dissuade him, suggesting that it might be more "appropriate" to put the questions in writing instead. "No, Sir, it would not be more appropriate!" bristled Boydston. "That is the people's money that was taken!" As he proceeded with his questions, he was interrupted by McLean, who asked, "Why are you asking questions that were answered in the report?" Boyston responded, rather loftily, "People ask me these questions!" Even for fans of Boydston's role as council gadfly, his tone was uncomfortably self-righteous. Luckily, the questions were relatively few--mostly along the lines of whether the insurer would certainly cover the losses and how that might affect things long-term. <br /><br />The consent calendar was up for discussion next, but no discussion occurred. The only substantive items were a contract for environmental review of the to-be-built Canyon Country Community Center and traffic control measures for Paragon Drive. All items were approved with the recommended actions.<br /><br /><b>A Quiet Victory</b><br /><b><br /></b>Bill Reynolds has been the man behind a push for a war memorial in Veterans Historical Plaza in Newhall. There are other war memorials in the city, but he felt this was an important location. His plan has changed over the course of a year, both in form and location, but the plan before the council tonight was for a granite wall with names of Santa Clarita's war dead on the front and a mural on the back. It would be placed in a tree-filled vertex of the triangular site.<br /><br />Comment were entirely supportive of the plan. "The monument is very modest both in size and cost," said Bill Reynolds, who said that it would be funded by business and community donations. Al Ferdman said, "Implement it as fast as you possibly can." Another speaker said that waiting a year had been long enough. Opposition in the past has come from the fact that the plaza was carefully designed. Certain council members (notably McLean and Weste) wanted to make sure the memorial would be well-designed and well-integrated, not upsetting the profound symmetry of the spot. <br /><br />No such objections were raised tonight; it was unclear whether the whole council had been swayed or merely relented. Councilmember Boydston moved that the memorial be built as it was presented on page 40 of the agenda packet. I'm not normally one to put too much importance in who makes and seconds motions, but I thought it would have been Acosta (whose son's name will appear on the memorial) to do it. Acosta did give the second, however, He said his only reservation was wanting to be certain that there would be room to add any more names that might sadly need to join the approximately 50 names that will already be appearing on the memorial. Acosta said, "I'm glad that it took a year," because that meant time and effort had gone into getting the memorial right. With approval, the meeting ended.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/BPeNf5Cn2kQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com4http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/08/embezzler-butchery-wall.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-76721428960860638722016-07-13T10:01:00.002-07:002016-07-13T10:01:45.231-07:00Parking Structure Parties, Firework Checkpoints<div>Tonight's was the last Santa Clarita City Council meeting before the summer recess, and it was a quick one. A $13M parking structure plan was approved for Old Town Newhall with very little debate. Discussion of the war memorial wall for Veterans Historical Plaza was deferred until after the recess. Interestingly, what ended up consuming a substantial portion of the meeting was discussion of how many loud and illegal fireworks went off in Santa Clarita over Independence Day. When Claritan historians look back on this meeting years from now, it shall be remembered as the one when Marsh McLean suggested setting up firework enforcement checkpoints. Let's do this one last recap, and then we'll all be excused from these efforts for over a month.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Rooftop Parties</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Councilmember Marsha McLean said that, in light of recent events, she struggled to find the right words for tonight's invocation. She ended up paraphrasing the eulogy that President Obama delivered this morning, encouraging people to be open to truly listening to one another and understanding differences.</div><div><br /></div><div>Following the pledge, Mayor Bob Kellar said that it was necessary to move Item 14 (Old Town Newhall/Laemmle parking structure) from the end of the meeting agenda to the very beginning. He didn't provide the reason at first, but immediately after the vote, Mayor Pro Tem Acosta left and Kellar explained that Acosta's mother had passed away just hours earlier. The schedule had been rearranged to let Acosta minimize his time away from his grieving family.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 376-space parking structure project recommended by staff was about $12.5M (with a $1.3M contingency). There was an option of making the top level include an event space, which slightly affected the final price. The recommendation was quickly accepted by the council, but Councilmember McLean wanted a provision to regulate access to the top deck event area, especially late at night. She worried that people could "get up there and do whatever, after-hours." There were a few other concerns raised as well, such as falling off the roof. In response, City Manager Ken Striplin said that the top level wouldn't be a fully-enclosed structure so much as an event-ready venue; it had been difficult to picture what was meant by "event space on the top deck" prior to this clarification. He made assurances that all relevant laws would be enforced. As for the risk of roof-to-ground movements, he said, "People will jump off if they jump off." Striplin's matter-of-fact-ness can be utterly refreshing. &nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The parking structure project was approved by everyone except Councilmember Laurene Weste, who recused herself due to the proximity of her property holdings to the project.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fireworks</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>There were only four speakers during public participation. Al Ferdman asked for more information on the former city employee who embezzled funds. "The public has a right to understand what transpired," he said, adding that he was interested in learning whether new preventative measures had been put into place.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>A man who lives in Valencia came up to complain about particularly loud illegal fireworks that went off in the streets this year. "This directly effects the quality of life," he said, hoping that offenders would be "fined to the maximum."&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Elaine Ballace's speech tonight was a little bit over the top, even by her own extraordinarily high standards. She said that life in Santa Clarita has been hard on her. "I came here under duress," she said, explaining that her move was prompted by the need to care for her elderly mother. "I begged her to leave," she continued. Her condemnations of the City of Santa Clarita were sweeping and damning: "Everybody lies here...is there no truth?" Then Ballace got around to the Dianne Van Hook restraining order--recall that the College of the Canyons Chancellor sought a restraining order against Ballace when Ballace made "threatening" remarks on a YouTube video about Measure E. Ballace asked of Van Hook, "She's an educator yet she wants to take away First and Second Amendment rights?" The most interesting claim was that Van Hook was actively engaging in friendly communication with Ballace while in court over the restraining order. Ballace said, "She came up to me during court and said, 'And you know there's a water bowl in the bathroom for your dog.' Is this a woman who's threatened?" Both Dianne Van Hook and Elaine Ballace have pushed the restraining order affair to absurdly dramatic heights.</div><div><br /></div><div>The final speaker was Doug Fraser, who asked for more details about revisions planned for the already-recently-revised mobile home park ordinance.</div><div><br /></div><div>City Manager Ken Striplin responded to the speakers in order. With regard to the embezzlement case, he said, "We have been very transparent from the beginning." Striplin predicted that the criminal investigation would be wrapping up this week and that results of a forensic audit would be available next week.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Striplin's response on illegal fireworks was lengthier because the City Council was eager to chime in. He described proactive outreach activities that the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Department had undertaken in the week leading up to the Fourth of July. Areas with known firework offenders were visited and informed about firework regulations. On the actual night, there were about 300 phone calls complaining about fireworks, 0 arrests, 4 citations issued (about $1000 each), and 200 pounds of fireworks confiscated. This did not satisfy everyone. Councilmember Laurene Weste said that a broader, regional-scale solution was needed because it's much too easy for people to leave the city or county to obtain fireworks. It's then just a short drive back to the fire-prone SCV. Councilmember McLean thought the fireworks situation was out of hand. She had an idea.&nbsp;</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>"Someone made a suggestion, and I'm wondering if it's a far-fetched one or not, about having checkpoints from a certain area where we know they go to buy the fireworks and catch them before they come into the city. And then I know we have checkpoints for driving under the influence; maybe we could have checkpoints around the Fourth of July for whether these things are in people's cars. And I know that I'm going to get banged for this, for, 'It's my right to do this!' and everything, but it's everybody else's right as well."</i>&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Her suggestion was not eagerly seized upon by the other members of council.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>As for mobile home park ordinance revisions, Striplin said that there's going to be a 6-8 month process during which staff will try to address some of the unforeseen consequences that have arisen from the most recent ordinance.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hotel Bills</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>The consent calendar wasn't particularly controversial. Councilmember TimBen Boydston asked about an item to cover Amgen Tour hotel room costs. He wondered if it was worth the $53,343.28 for rooms at the Hyatt. Jason Crawford said that, based on an economic analysis from a prior year, Santa Clarita could see benefits worth $1.9M from hosting a start and finish of the bicycle race. This was an estimate that included marketing and branding benefits.</div><div><br /></div><div>Two items increased Santa Clarita's open space. One site proposed for purchase was 241 acres formerly slated for the Las Lomas development in the Newhall pass area. The other was 78 acres in Tapia Canyon, Castaic. Open space financial accountability panel member Wendy Langhans said that she was "over the moon" about the Las Lomas acquisition, which will provide important habitat for wildlife and contribute to regional connectivity. She mentioned an apparent error about land designations for the Tapia Canyon area, however, and Rick Gould said that there had been a labeling mistake and it would be fixed. The error didn't affect the purchase.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Al Ferdman spoke on a landscaping item, asking whether lucrative contracts were worth it when the companies under contract couldn't even be bothered to remove dead plant material left from when drought restrictions were implemented.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ultimately, the consent calendar passed with the recommended actions on all items.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>There were plans to have yet another discussion about the war memorial wall planned for Veterans Historical Plaza in Newhall. However, Councilmember TimBen Boydston suggested that it would be appropriate to continue this item to another date given the absence of Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta. Tragically, Acosta's son's name is one set to go on the memorial wall, so all the councilmembers agreed that it would be best to pick up this item again at the end of summer. The meeting ended and the next one is set for August 23rd. See you then.</div><div><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/G9E2dmlYpNg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com2http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/07/parking-structure-parties-firework.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-83532126100802614552016-06-28T23:55:00.003-07:002016-06-29T00:00:40.469-07:00Love Boat, Dark FibersTonight's meeting of the Santa Clarita City Council made many happy by many means. An 85-year-old actor got a chance to shine before a receptive audience. A local veteran learned that his war memorial project will be discussed for the umpteenth time. A community desirous of truly high-speed internet saw a small but promising glimmer of possibility. And a little neighborhood called Canyon Country moved a step closer to getting a community center of its own. There were woes and concerns and nagging questions, too, but we'll get to those in the recap. <br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b><br /></b><b>"A Gift from God"</b><br /><br />Mayor Kellar delivered an invocation in which he read a bunch of quotations. They ranged from "you cannot help the poor by destroying the rich" to "you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves." His punchline was the revelation that these quotes came from President Abraham Lincoln. But they did not. The quotations are often misattributed to Lincoln, but they were actually written by William Boetcker ("The Ten Cannots"). This is the second time that Kellar has misattributed quotations to a major historical figure--six months ago there was some confusion about Thomas Jefferson. Blame the Internet.<br /><br />Awards and presentations this evening were unusual. The first item was a proclamation that dedicated a whole day to love at sea. You see, Gavin MacLeod played the captain on <i>The Love Boat</i> and he has worked in the decades since as an ambassador for Princess Cruises, which is headquartered in town. Some PR mastermind clearly saw an opportunity, and Santa Clarita proclaimed "Princess Cruises Ambassador Gavin MacLeod Day." Bit of a mouthful, don't you think? In any case, the 85-year-old MacLeod spoke energetically, rapidly, and enthusiastically about a whole variety of topics once he was handed the microphone. He described what he likes about Santa Clarita--the free parking, the wide streets, the school system, that his family lives here, and even his favorite restaurant (Wolf Creek where his daughter is a pastry chef). He encouraged people to take a cruise: "Take one and you'll be infected and you'll want to go back!...The shows are great! The people are great!... Princess Cruises is a gift from God!" It was an experience, and the audience and council were generally delighted.<br /><br />"Nobody told me I would be following Gavin McLeod!" said City Librarian Kelly Behle, the next person up for awards and recognitions. She highlighted the five-year anniversary of the Santa Clarita Library system, she promised cake to celebrate, and she described how libraries are used by tens of thousands of Claritans each and every month.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><br /><b>"A Memorial Granite Thing"</b><br /><br />Public participation included just five speakers but lasted quite a while. Brian Baker spoke in support of Bill Reynolds' proposal for "a memorial granite thing" in the Veterans Historical Plaza. He wants progress rather than stagnation. Bill Reynolds spoke next. He said he was present with "a few friendly reminders" about the history of the memorial project he has been working on. He felt that he had jumped through all the hoops but kept meeting with resistance from the city. Reynolds ran out of time before he could fully conclude his remarks, but this wasn't the last we'd hear of the monument plan this evening.<br /><br />Two speakers touched on the subject of dysfunctional public meetings. Al Ferdman condemned the<br />mobile home park rate adjustment panel and Cam Noltemeyer wondered why meetings about Santa Clarita's chloride issue continue to happen out of town. She also asked why Santa Clarita's representatives don't do more to look out for the SCV when they have the votes to do so.<br />The final speaker was Steve Petzold. After complimenting Darren Hernandez on his handling of a recent meeting (Hernandez, in the same video frame, was almost completely non-reactive), he called out Leon Worden and the enterprise that is SCVTV. Petzold was particularly troubled by the fact that ads and interviews for College of the Canyons/Measure E had appeared online at SCVTV while the bond measure was being debated in the community. Before it got any more public funding, Petzold felt that SCVTV needed to be open to public scrutiny as to whether it was meeting its obligation to provide fair coverage of local issues to the public. <br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin tried to respond in brief. Regarding the memorial, he said that staff were working on plans and that they had an architect on board. Recall that the last time this was discussed, the council decided that it ought to have a third party thoroughly consider all the options for the best placement and design of a war memorial in Veterans Historical Plaza. This decision was reached after a very lengthy and often contentious discussion. In his wisdom, however, Mayor Kellar called Bill Reynolds forward this evening to present a slightly modified version of the memorial wall. Reynolds explained that the new dimensions were a mere five-and-a-half feet tall by seven feet across. It's not routine for the mayor to invite people up to present on unagendized items, but everyone on the council decided to jump into the issue once again. Councilmember McLean pointed out that this smaller memorial really wasn't that much smaller--reduced by just six inches. And McLean re-emphasized her desire to take some time in considering the memorial. "We keep getting lambasted!," she said, for not acting more quickly. She made one of her concerns about the wall more explicit tonight. In the past she's said a large wall could shield unsavory activities, and she elaborated that this could include using the plaza as a bathroom (something similar has already happened in the area). <br /><br />Councilmember TimBen Boydston and Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta wanted to know how much was being budgeted for an architect/consultant. Parks Director Rick Gould said it was about $18,000 but that the contract might not yet have been signed. Boydston found that figure "crazy." He felt that the wall proposed by Reynolds already had a lot of community support and that the $18,000 would be better spent on more pressing needs. Acosta added, "I like what I see here," though he would later backpedal and state, "We need to get this right." Discussion was beginning to consume a lot of time when City Attorney Joe Montes spoke up and advised the council to agendize the item. He said that their last direction to staff had been to develop the various possibilities (staff was doing that), but it seemed like the council now wanted to discuss whether it would make more sense to just take the plan submitted by Reynolds as-is. So look forward to yet more contentious discussion about a war memorial at a future meeting.<br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin continued with his responses to public remarks. "I agree that it doesn't work," he said of the mobile home panel. This is what Elaine Ballace and other mobile home park residents have been saying for months. Striplin said that they will look into what can be changed to make for fairer, more functional hearings once the current batch gets worked through. Updates about events and various goings-on from the councilmembers followed.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b><br /></b><b>"It's Already Ugly"</b><br /><br />The consent calendar had a couple of items that attracted the attention of Cam Noltemeyer. She spoke on the 2016-17 budget (some $220M), wondering about costs associated with water monitoring and a loan for road construction that included no timetable for repayment. Noltemeyer then spoke on an item that would implement the zoning and construction changes proposed by Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital at the last meeting. She said that the zoning change, which essentially allowed the campus to be built more densely (with council approval), was a bad idea. "It's already ugly and too dense as it is," she complained, and she predicted that the hospital and developers would push to build even more densely than they had originally agreed to.<br /><br />Carl Kanowsky spoke on behalf of the Valley Industrial Association about an item that proposed leasing some of the city's unused ("dark") communications fibers to a third party, Wilcon. He said that the city spent a lot of money laying these lines for its use, and he wondered whether they could think bigger (e.g., sell/offer service on their own, look for a better deal, etc.). However, it was clear that Kanowsky felt that making high-speed internet access available was absolutely essential so he was generally supportive of the item. even if the deal wasn't perfect. He identified the "dearth of high-speed internet connectivity" as a "black hole" in terms of competitive advantages against other communities.<br /><br />Councilmember Boydston asked about the dark fiber proposal. A member of the city staff came up and gave some helpful particulars. He said that only about half of the fibers that were laid are currently used for traffic and other communications, and that's in the busiest situations--it's often much less. Wilcon would lease just 2-8% of the fibers. Boydston wondered about the length of the contract (potentially 25 years if all renewal options are exercised), but it was explained that contracts are usually long-term in duration and that the city could get out relatively easily after 10.5 years. Mayor Pro Tem Acosta was familiar with the issue, and he added that there are other potential providers of ultra-high-speed internet, so while this would help businesses looking for fast connections, the city infrastructure would be just one part of the solution.<br />The consent calendar was approved with the recommended actions. <br /><br /><b><br /></b><b>"A Real Coup for Canyon Country"</b><br /><b><br /></b>There were a couple of public hearings on assessments for open space and special districts, but these came and went with very little fanfare.<br /><br />Far more interesting was the conceptual plan for the Canyon Country Community Center to be built at the corner of Soledad Canyon and Sierra Highway. Rick Gould explained that one of the main challenges facing the city is the oddly shaped and arranged parcels that have been aggregated for the project. The plan proposes a 20,000 square-foot community center, a dual-use parking-lot/"mercado" (e.g., for farmers' markets), and an outdoor event area. Gould explained that it was more of a "vision" than a binding, specific plan, and that things would be altered and negotiated. The only speaker was Al Ferdman, who gave it his blessing as a "really robust plan." And as he often reminds us, he is chair of the Canyon Country Advisory Committee, so he's got the street cred. <br /><br />Councilmember Laurene Weste found the plan "lovely." She felt good that Canyon Country would be getting some additional amenities, but she was worried about whether there would be safe access to the center. She hoped for a "paseo" style bridge that connected to Santa Clarita's trail system. Weste felt this would be good for safety, vaguely alluding to her concerns about the area: "If you're gonna have as many children there as I can imagine you will with the kind of neighborhoods that are there..." Acosta called the plan "a real coup for Canyon Country". Boydston thought it was a "great idea," and Kellar simply said, "Phenomenal".<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/o85vkRBF6Sg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com1http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/06/love-boat-dark-fibers.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-23311640210125319392016-06-15T06:46:00.000-07:002016-06-15T06:46:38.233-07:00New Budget, Hospital Corridors, BMXTonight's Santa Clarita City Council meeting was a reminder that 2016 is fast losing ground to 2017. Preparations for the November 8th election got underway (Item 9). The budget for the new fiscal year was presented, with its usual mix of expenditures both prudent and peculiar. Even the councilmembers were sounding a little bit grumpy (and not just the usual one), perhaps in restless anticipation of the summer recess they'll be enjoying soon. What got accomplished? Some slight changes to the hospital build-out were approved, the budget got a general blessing, and BMX track proponents seemed to make a bit of headway in their push for a facility. Let's recap.<br /><br /><b>A Defeated Petz Speaks</b><br /><br />Mayor Bob Kellar told the audience that Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta was waylaid and would be arriving late, so he gave the invocation in his place.&nbsp; Kellar spoke of the attack in Orlando. He said such events are "occurring too often...[we are] in the middle of a strange form of war." After expressing his support for the victims, he invited the audience to observe a moment of silence. Then, he called Steve Petzold forward to give the pledge--it's usually some Boy Scouts.<br /><br />Petzold was then also the first to speak during public participation. He reflected on Measure E, which recently passed and means a quarter-billion dollars from taxpayers for College of the Canyons. Petzold had staunchly opposed the plan. "I knew that the odds were long against me," he said, and he laid much of the blame on local news outlets. "The media coverage was terrible!" (He did note some exceptions.) He wondered why <i>The Signal</i> hadn't interviewed him and why Leon Worden hadn't presented all the viewpoints on the matter on SCVTV. As Petzold left, he told Kellar (I believe), "Here's a picture of you with a shotgun," while handing the photo to the city clerk. This was presumably a reference to the politically-motivated restraining order that COC's Dianne Van Hook sought against Steve Petzold prior to the Measure E vote. Petzold had made an anti-E video in which he held a pellet gun (brandished against tax increases, not Van Hook) which she apparently found threatening.<br /><br />Elaine Ballace, another target of one of Van Hook's sensational restraining orders, also mentioned her notoriety rather obliquely. "Maybe you've seen my name in the news lately?" she said. (Ballace's was for remarks that seemed to advocate violence in opposition to Measure E, but Ballace's violence is strictly limited to her often venomous words.) Ballace reiterated her belief that city staff need to change their relationship with mobile home park residents and park owners. She said that the system works against the poor who need help the most but get it the least.<br /><br />Christian Gadbois, Santa Clarita's most ardent let's-build-a-BMX-track activist, came to the microphone next. He said that he has gotten together most of what's needed for a BMX track and wants a place to store the stuff--or, better yet, a temporary site to build a track. Another parent spoke in support following Gadbois.<br /><br />The last public speaker was Cam Noltemeyer. She was upset about the city giving perks to developers and she vowed to dig deeper into where Dante Acosta's campaign money has been coming from.<br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin responded briefly. He told Noltemeyer that the collection of development impact fees was merely delayed for some developers; they would still be collected eventually. In a change of course, Striplin also said that he would be meeting regarding the BMX track. Up to this point, he's said that it's a possibility in the future but wasn't making efforts to build one before recreational amenities that are already on the schedule.<br /><br /><b>Parks Active, Parks Passive</b><br /><br />The consent calendar was the usual collection of items relating to contracts, maintenance, and bookkeeping. A few items did attract special attention. Gadbois came back to the microphone for Item 5, which proposed spending $70,000 to acquire 14 acres of open space. He re-stated his interest in building a BMX track, and he asked how open spaces were identified for purchase and how land use (passive use or active park) was determined. Obviously, he wants a parcel for a bike track.<br /><br />Al Ferdman mentioned similar concerns on Item 8, which covered the annual open space assessment and increase--$1/year is allowed. He said that the city has realized cost savings when it comes to the assessment and he felt that an increase was thus unwarranted. He added that up to 10% of purchases can be active use park space, but to date, there is "exactly no acreage for active parkland" from the assessment. Why aren't people getting things like BMX tracks and active use facilities with their money, he wondered.&nbsp; <br /><br />In response to the speakers, Parks Director Rick Gould said the property proposed for purchase at tonight's meeting served the needs of wildlife better than the needs of BMX enthusiasts.&nbsp; He explained that it was very steep but ideally suited to linking parts of the Angeles National Forest. Darren Hernandez, wearing an interesting tie, spoke next. In answer to a question from Councilmember TimBen Boydston, he said that 10% of open space assessment funds could go to active use and facility development uses per state law. However, he said that the intent of the assessment has always been "purchase and preservation of undeveloped land." Boydston seemed satisfied that active uses could be funded with the assessment (spirit of the assessment or not) and is clearly receptive to the BMX interests. The last word on open space went to City Manager Ken Striplin. He called the open space district "hugely successful," and he defended increases in the assessment to cover ascending debt, increasing maintenance costs, and to give them some cash on hand for unexpected property purchase opportunities.<br /><br />The consent calendar was approved.<br /><br />You may have noticed that no awards, recognition, or councilmember updates have been mentioned. Indeed, Mayor Bob Kellar put updates after the consent calendar this evening. It's unclear why this happened, but in any case, updates from the council were relatively brief. Councilmember Marsha McLean mentioned some advice that she gave students at Albert Einstein Academy when speaking before their graduating class. She said that they should never be afraid to ask questions, and she tied this to a more grown-up lesson of asking questions about coverage in the media. She said that she has been incorrectly quoted/portrayed/represented on social media, so she felt it was important to not believe everything one reads but rather dig deeper. McLean often paints herself as a victim of social media coverage, but specific grievances have not been forthcoming.<br /><br />For his update, Councilmember Boydston asked about the city employee who had been caught embezzling (he made the news a couple weeks ago). City Manager Striplin said that an investigatory report would be coming out in about two weeks with more details. &nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Hospitality </b><br /><br />Patrick Leclair gave a devastatingly drawn-out presentation on a proposal to slightly change the build-out of the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital (HMNH, no longer the palindromic HMNMH as "memorial" is gone). He could have presented the whole thing in about a minute, but it took him that long just to lay out the schedule of his presentation. It seemed like a presentation made in anticipation of community opposition, a suspicion strengthened by the fact that Newhall Hospital's Roger Seaver (CEO) had brought a crowd of supporters and prepared his own tedious remarks about the changes. The proposal was to change the hospital land from being designated as "public/institutional" to "specific plan" and to let the inpatient building be about 30,000 feet bigger than had been originally suggested. The location of the helicopter landing pad would also be shifted a bit north.<br /><br />Seaver claimed that the changes were made to make sure that the hospital would be in line with new requirements (bigger corridors were required, for example), and there were also some changes to the cafeteria and delivery rooms.&nbsp; He asked supporters to raise their hands in support, be he had graciously requested they not all come to the microphone to voice their support. The only speaker was Cam Noltemeyer. She lives in The Summit and was very concerned about the change in plans. She mentioned a lawsuit was a possibility. Her grievances included the change in land use designation, which she felt could threaten development agreements made to the community. She also noted that the helipad would be closer to homes, and she wondered why an EIR hadn't been required. "This is about campaign contributions!" she concluded.<br /><br />As for the council, most of the concerns came from Councilmember Boydston. He wondered why an increase of tens of thousands of square feet in hospital space hadn't also included an increase in parking. Leclair explained that parking already exceeded the requirement. Boydston was not satisfied, and eventually Roger Seaver came up to explain that most of the additional space wouldn't actually bring more people--it would be bigger corridors, multiple rooms into which the same patient might be alternately moved, and so on. Boydston asked if Seaver could guarantee that parking would be adequate, and while Seaver said he could reassure Boydston, he added, "I think my guarantee would be worthless." That is, he'd be meeting requirements but couldn't state it would work out perfectly. as for the changes in designation from institutional to special plan, City Attorney Joe Montes explained that the hospital's land use exceeded institutional guidelines, so they'd have to change the guidelines for the whole city or just make HMNH a special case. The latter option seemed more prudent. With these explanations offered, the hospital plan was approved. &nbsp;<br /><br /><br /><b>The Budget</b><br /><br />The second big item of the night was presentation of the 2016-17 budget for Santa Clarita. Insomuch as he is capable of enthusiasm, presenting this item gets Ken Striplin pretty darn excited. He even allows such celebratory excesses as bold fonts and attention-grabbing captions, like in the slide below:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ht1bSdktmM/V2FYLtfMgEI/AAAAAAAADzA/dHXG-LX9Lwc7a-8wGvfktqDOD1OI5xLCQCLcB/s1600/Budget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ht1bSdktmM/V2FYLtfMgEI/AAAAAAAADzA/dHXG-LX9Lwc7a-8wGvfktqDOD1OI5xLCQCLcB/s640/Budget.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />The budget is $219.6M. In terms of expenditures, it's about 47% operations, 23% capital projects, 23% personnel. In terms of revenue, sales tax and property tax together account for two-thirds. After going through the big picture stuff came the much more fun discussion of specific expenditures: $84,000 for river encampment clean-ups (homeless removal), $41,000 increase in the base budget for day camps, $50,000 for the tourism district (have your conference in beautiful Santa Clarita!), $78,000 to upgrade communter WiFi services, $135,000 for Cemex lobbying (nope, it's not over), almost $300,000 for public access television operations and technology, $2.5M for Saugus library design, $200,000 for the Safe Routes to Schools program, and, of course, $15.2M for a parking structure in Old Town Newhall because, well, just because.<br /><br />There was some discussion. Boydston asked about money for public art (including art for the roundabout, a very sore subject from the past) and spoke scornfully of "stalling techniques" that had been used to effectively veto art that some councilmembers found less than desirable. Boydston also asked about payments for a company that ostensibly helps filter spam out of emails. "Can we fire that company and use a different company?" he asked. Boydston said 47 of 60 emails he had were spam.<br /><br />The last hearing was on adjustments to fees (technically there was one more, but it was on streetlight maintenance districts so it doesn't really count). The city tries to cover its administrative/staff/material costs from the fees collected for various services. The hearing was on whether these adjustments were acceptable. Al Ferdman came up to speak. He first pointed out that there were different fees for different sorts of groups, such as for-profit vs. non-profit and resident vs. non-resident. He asked how that squared with the fees not being to generate revenue but merely cover costs. His second point was that some fees seemed unreasonable. For example, there's a special events fee of $25/day for each outlet used.<br /><br />Boydston asked for a response to Ferdman's questions. City Manager Striplin said that while they could only recover costs, there were no laws saying that the city couldn't subsidize some groups (e.g., non-profits) with payments from others (e.g., non-Claritans). Rick Gould explained that the outlet cost came from the fact that there is a labor cost associated with, for example, going to a street light to open the outlet and then return to close it after the event. This seemed to satisfy everyone, and the meeting ended shortly after.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/eCtIZPBQ08A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com2http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/06/new-budget-hospital-corridors-bmx.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-24610168050481169442016-05-25T07:40:00.002-07:002016-05-25T07:40:55.206-07:00A Problem of Symmetry, New Sheriff's StationThe Santa Clarita City Council can be accused of many things, but their support of veterans and military families has never been in doubt. That's what made tonight's council meeting rather uncomfortable. Bill Reynolds' proposed memorial wall was up for discussion--the one he's pushed to have built in Newhall Veterans Historical Plaza. After much contentious discussion about where/how it's appropriate to honor the military dead, the council agreed to put off agreeing to some date uncertain. Far less contentious was a $51M plan for a new Sheriff's Station. But that's the way it is in Santa Clarita--the amount of discussion can never be predicted by pricetag alone.<br /><br /><b>The Coyote Wall</b><br /><br />For her invocation, Councilmember Laurene Weste contemplated Memorial Day from both national and local perspectives.<br /><br />Two individuals were called forward to be recognized by the council. First, a recent West Point graduate was applauded for his long list of academic, military, and personal accomplishments. He said that, after graduating two days ago, many of his peers went to Cancun or other party destinations. But he said,&nbsp;<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“There’s no place that I’d rather be than here [Santa Clarita].” Damn straight. Next, we heard about a detective who solved a case involving the theft of some plants--not drug plants but landscaping plants. He, too, was recognized by the council.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Public participation consisted of just three speakers. Steve Petzold encouraged Claritans to vote against Measure E, the quarter-billion dollar bond measure that would bring new buildings and more parking to College of the Canyons. He said that the current campus and parking facilities are adequate, and he mentioned the massive amount of debt COC is already saddled with. Petz suggested that flashing the debt on the school's electronic billboards would be an effective wake-up call--the amount taxpayers are on the hook for. Elaine Ballace spoke out about the mobile home review panel and the lack of help for renters. She said responses from city staff are often unhelpful or dismissive. She singled out Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta, asking him why he was running for State Assembly. Ballace claimed Acosta is "un-representing" plenty of people already.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The one other public speaker tonight described coyote attacks on pets along the bike trail through Bridgeport. He described the existing fence as "completely open and vulnerable to coyote attacks," so he proposed a "proper fence" along the trail or relocation of the coyotes. His was the only comment to which City Manager Ken Striplin responded. Striplin said that he was sorry to hear about family pets being "accosted" by the predators, but he added that coyotes can get over even a six-foot fence and are to be an expected part of life (and death) in the SCV. He added that staff would look at whether fences in the area were inadequate.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the past several recaps, I know I've just breezed past councilmember updates because I find them the most exhausting and tedious portions of the meeting. Tonight was a typical reflection of what you're missing. &nbsp;Councilmember Laurene Weste: Hearing on St. Francis Dam Memorial Monument. Free movie series at Hart Park. Councilmember Marsha McLean: Description of a half-dozen transportation meetings and issues. Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta: Duane Harte park dedication. Community gardens. Santa Clarita's swimming facilities for summer. Councilmember TimBen Boydston: Resolution to coordinate homeless initiatives with LA County (doesn't get support to agendize discussion of this). Mayor Bob Kellar: Military banner program. Deceased SCV resident John Nuzzi. As always, it was a mix of remembering the dead and promoting activities for the living.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>The 15-Year Clause</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The consent calendar had been scrutinized by Al Ferdman and Cam Noltemeyer prior to the meeting, and both had questions about a couple of the items each. Ferdman expressed concerns about how a new roof for the special districts administration facility was being funded. He said that the costs must be divided among those who will benefit. He brought up more Proposition 218 concerns on another district-related item. Ferdman asked about whether some districts in the red were being funded by those in the black, which would be improper.</span><br /><br />During her two turns at the microphone, Cam Noltemeyer expressed disappointment in various aspects of Claritan government. Item 6 adjusted rates of solid waste service providers (multifamily residential rates up 3.88%), which led Noltemeyer to the topic of Chiquita Landfill and becoming (or remaining) the valley of the dumps. "I want to see some leadership!" she said, hoping that landfill expansions could be fought off the way a dump in Elsmere Canyon was. Noltemeyer then spoke about an item awarding a design contract for the Vista Canyon Metrolink Station. "Who's paying for it?" she asked, noting that over $4M will be required for design and preparation costs alone. She was concerned about how much the actual station, additional track, and amenities would end up costing.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">City Manager Ken Striplin said the speakers' concerns were, as always, misplaced. He explained that costs for the new roof would be fairly allocated. He added that, "Proposition 218 is being fully complied with," such that loans to various districts are carefully accounted for and will be repaid. Striplin then mentioned that Elsmere Canyon had become protected as open space instead of being turned into a dump in response to Noltemeyer. Cam's comments can be wide-ranging and difficult to follow, but his response was more just a way of evading discussion of Chiquita, the dump-that-shall-not-be-spoken-of by City Council.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Once items on the consent calendar had been approved with the recommended actions, City Manager Striplin expressed his excitement to present plans for a new Sheriff's Station. He explained that the current station had been built when the population of the SCV was about 50,000 people, 1/6th of what it is today. It was out-of-date and inadequate and not centrally located. The item he presented was a memorandum of understanding between the City of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County concerning a new 44,000 sq. ft. station to be built on Golden Valley Road. The cash will come from a variety of city funds and other sources, including $15M from the county. However, if Santa Clarita chooses to end its contract with the Sheriff's Department within fifteen years of construction of the new facility, it will have to pay that money back to the county. Santa Clarita will own the land and the station, and it will be used by the Sheriff's Department rent-free.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Al Ferdman came up to comment. He said that he would prefer two stations (the new one and the existing one) rather than just going with one big new one. He offered an interesting theory that crime would shift from the east to the west with the relocation of the Sheriff's Department.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">The council was generally supportive of the plan for the new station. Everyone agreed that a bigger, newer station was needed, and the location proposed seemed to be about as geographically central as could be hoped for. Councilmember McLean asked about the provision of paying the county back if the city ended its contract with the LA County Sheriff's Department. Could the penalty be pro-rated?, she wondered. The short answer was no, or at least not without slowing down a process that's taken too long already. The MOU was approved.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><br />Old Town Newhall was discussed next. You may recall that an urgency ordinance was recently enacted that placed a moratorium on any new businesses in the area except those which supported the goal of an arts and entertainment district. This most urgent of ordinances got extended for another 10 months without comment or discussion. Councilmember Boydston had to recuse himself from the item do to his business in the area. So worry not; there will be no new businesses in Newhall unless they're adorable boutiques, fashionable galleries, wine bars, or the like.<br /><br /><b>Black Granite</b><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>The most contentious item of the evening was the proposal for a memorial wall by the Santa Clarita Valley Veterans Memorial Committee. This project has been discussed for a while and was moving forward largely because of the efforts of a very determined Bill Reynolds. The wall would be located in Veterans Historical Plaza in Newhall or some other site that the council deemed fit<br /><br />Public comments came after a brief introduction of the proposal. Many speakers were very concerned about the semantics of it all. Was it a wall, memorial, memorial wall, or monument? Was the plaza for veterans expressly or could it serve a memorial function, too? What did the "historical" in historical plaza actually mean? The most ardent supporter was Bill Reynolds, who read a long list of fellow project supporters and explained that various individuals and businesses had already stepped forward to cover the costs of installing the wall. It belonged in the plaza, he said. Julie Olsen also made a memorable speech in which she described some of the stories of those who had died in war and who would be remembered on the wall. &nbsp; &nbsp; <br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Dick Jeffrey was the most outspoken opponent. As a veteran himself, he said that he knew something about the wishes of the fallen. "I know one thing for sure, from the bottom of my heart," he began, continuing that the fallen would want to "give the money to the living." It wasn't primarily monetary concerns that gave Jeffrey pause, though; he said the plaza has a "non-memorial character" and mentioned that there is already a wall for the fallen at Eternal Valley Cemetery. He speculated that the wall was really just "a way to glorify one man's [Reynolds'] inflated ego." Other speakers against putting a wall in the plaza included R.J. Kelly, who said that Eternal Valley is for the fallen, not the Veterans Historical Plaza.</span></span><br /><br />Councilmember TimBen Boydston expressed his surprise that some people were opposed, saying, "I think we will not be spoiling the beauty of the plaza." But the beauty of the plaza was exactly what made Weste, McLean, and Acosta concerned. The plaza is just so symmetrical in its present form. Putting a wall in the middle would preserve symmetry but interrupt the unbroken view, and putting it off to one side would upset the balance. Councilmember Weste took a lot of time to express her concerns and comments ("I have a lot of 'em!" she warned), and she made it clear that everyone supported veterans, regardless of their thoughts on the appropriateness of a wall for the plaza. Weste felt that the plaza had been almost perfectly designed and ought not be altered. "You don't deconstruct," she said, adding that it would be inappropriate to, "Geez, go plop something down." Even the material proposed for the wall made her worry. "There's no [other] black granite in that plaza!" she observed. Councilmember McLean was worried that a wall in some shady corner could give cover to certain unsavory activities. Mayor Pro Tem Acosta wondered whether the Rotary Club gardens might not be a better spot.<br /><br />Mayor Kellar made a motion in support of a wall on the periphery of the plaza. He said he wanted to move forward and "not keep talking about it." He added that the speakers in favor (the vast majority had been) represented "a compelling gathering of people." Kellar has heard from even larger crowds of residents on other items, but this was the first time he said that his actions were being motivated by such a crowd. Councilmember McLean warned against acting simply out of visceral support for a monument: "You need to be practical and not emotional." Mayor Pro Tem Acosta, whose son was killed while serving in Afghanistan, expressed serious distress over having to potentially vote "no" on a wall that would honor his son simply because the location wasn't right. It was evident that Kellar's motion would fail 3-2. Weste then made a very long motion of her own. It asked for staff to take a hard second look at the monument/wall and afforded a lot of oversight/discretionary control to the council. Placement, material, and other aspects of the memorial design could all be negotiated, but it would end up somewhere in the plaza (a point Boydston was insistent on getting added to the motion).<br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18.4px;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br />The meeting ended after Doug Fraser made a comment about the confusing and troubling legal status of spouses as owners of mobile homes. Recent hearings have hinged on whether a spouse counts as an owner if his/her name isn't on the documents. City Attorney Joe Montes refused to second-guess how the panel had interpreted ownership. It seemed like a pretty simple question of community property, but Montes didn't want to get into it. With that, the meeting ended.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/QlfRl4ylR_U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com1http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-problem-of-symmetry-new-sheriffs.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-56569748920921746562016-05-10T22:27:00.000-07:002016-05-10T22:27:48.713-07:00Routine Council, Some Public VenomTonight's Santa Clarita City Council meeting lacked controversy, tension, and suspense. Most items were financial in nature--investment policy, bonds, fees, service contracts--and decisions were more formalities than turning-points. It was the kind of meeting you forget, even as it's happening. But I persevered to recap, if solely for the sake of a few quotable moments.<br /><br /><b>"That's a plus."</b><br /><br />Councilmember TimBen Boydston read some excerpts from President Barack Obama's National Day of Prayer speech. Mayor Kellar then welcomed a Boy Scout Troop--"all the way from Canyon Country!"--to lead the pledge. It took an inordinate amount of time because the young scout at the helm added grave and dramatic pauses whenever possible.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Next, May was proclaimed "Bicycle Month." Fittingly there will be group rides and events and the Amgen Tour to celebrate bicycles and the people who ride them. Mayor Kellar said he's delighted to see what must be "thousands" of bicyclists riding about Santa Clarita each weekend. Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta was in charge of the next presentation. He described the awards Santa Clarita's communications team received from the California Association of Public Information Officials. Gail Morgan arranged her mostly female team for a celebratory photo with the council, and Councilmember Weste observed, "They're not only good at their job, they're gorgeous, so, that's a plus." I suspect the remark would have played somewhat less favorably had it been delivered by a male councilmember.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Vengeance is mine saith the Lord."</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Public participation was short and bitter. Elaine Ballace, who spoke shortly after the pledge, said, "Liberty and justice for all...unless you live in a mobile home park." She complained about how the new(ish) mobile home ordinance has been put into practice and asked for more support from the council, naming some city staff members she's found less than supportive (e.g., Erin Lay) of residents struggling to get by as rents continue to rise. Ballace ended with a rather foreboding proclamation: "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord!" &nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Next, an elderly Claritan man from Belcaro gave his thoughts on a memorial for SCV veterans. He thought that a proposed outdoor monument wasn't the best idea (it gets cold/rainy and hot/unpleasant outside, he fairly pointed out) and suggested a museum as his preferred alternative. He explained that it could educate young people about veterans and American history, which he said is not really being taught in the schools. Cam Noltemeyer spoke next. She enumerated her many and familiar grievances against redevelopment in Newhall. Using the library as an anchor and lavishing subsidies on private entities were among the choices that Noltemeyer found "disturbing."&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The final speaker was Steve Petzold. He drew parallels between Measure M (the College of the Canyons one from 2006), Measure S (the billboard one from 2014) and Measure E (the College of the Canyons one going on now). For all these measures, Petz was interested in who was funding support efforts. He has researched it (this required a trip to Norwalk) and found support from the philanthropic arm of COC and several other parties, including "Westfield Valencia Mall [for] $12,500." Petzold's opposition, he re-stated, was based on having the people of Santa Clarita pay for the college despite accounting for only about half the attendance. "This is a scam folks," he cautioned.<br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin's responded once public participation had concluded. His remarks were polite acknowledgements of speakers or refutations of some of the more outraged contentions. Updates from the council were protracted and routine, for the most part. Mayor Kellar spent some time encouraging residents to purchase banners for members and veterans of the armed forces. The banner program includes the display of large, personalized banners along the road for major, patriotic holidays. The families then get to keep the banner. While the costs of the banners are being partially covered by donations from local businesses, families must cover the rest. Kellar explained that this made sense--another city had covered costs in a similar program and eventually ran out of funds. This seemingly innocuous comment would become important later. &nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"I know it's kind of confusing."</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>The consent calendar brought more questions than answers. Councilmember Boydston asked if there were any derivatives in Santa Clarita's investments (Item 5 was a review of investment policy). There aren't, apparently. Al Ferdman spoke on Item 8, which had to do with initial administration of the recently formed Santa Clarita Parking Authority. "What is it going to do?" Ferdman asked. Item 9 added to the confusion, because it replaced the Redevelopment Successor Agency with the Parking Authority in the Santa Clarita's joint powers agreement. "I know it's kind of confusing," said City Manager Striplin. He explained that one agency was just being swapped for another and that despite the name, it didn't have to do with the parking structure proposed for the next stage of Newhall redevelopment. "The two just kind of coincided," he said of the authority and structure.<br /><br /></div><div>The consent calendar passed with the recommend actions on all items.</div><div><br /><b>"Let's pay for the whole deal."</b><br /><b><br /></b>A few more items followed the consent calendar. First, the annual stormwater pollution prevention fee was determined at $24.04 per year for an average 7,000 square-foot parcel. Councilmembers Marsha McLean and TimBen Boydston expressed some displeasure over county/state plans to increase the fee. This hasn't happened yet, but it was clearly on their minds. In a rare, almost affectionate moment, Mayor Kellar remembered an amusing remark Boydston made when testifying about stormwater fees before the LA County Board of Supervisors. Kellar recalled, chuckling, "God gave us rain and government's trying to figure out how to tax us for it."<br /><br />The final items had to do with refunding Golden Valley Road and open space bonds, which saved the city some cash, There was no discussion or comment.<br /><br />The meeting would have ended then and there, but Al Ferdman decided to submit a card for the closing round of public participation. He said he hadn't planned on it until he heard a particular remark. "Then something happens that raises the hair on the back of my neck," he said, building suspense. He explained that honoring veterans with banners was great, but not covering the costs was "shameful." (Recall that Kellar had made a case for asking families to cover some of the costs.) Ferdman pointed out that the city spends almost $100,000 on holiday lights for Newhall and will be giving about $4M to Laemmle Theaters. Why, Ferdman queried, couldn't it spare about $20,000 for veterans? "Kick in that twenty grand and let's pay for the whole deal," he emphatically suggested. The meeting then ended.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/y5KgcqRZGaQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com0http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/05/routine-council-some-public-venom.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-41031447297585339792016-04-13T09:38:00.002-07:002016-04-13T13:37:26.026-07:00Annex-Fever and Library ContentmentTonight's Santa Clarita City Council brought several long-standing, lukewarm issues back to a simmer. Much of the (north)west-side of Santa Clarita is moving toward annexation despite the concerns of at least one developer. The Santa Clarita Library system will continue to be operated by LSSI, a name once met with scorn but now with approving indifference. The next step to support mobile home residents was taken. Amidst all this existing business came plans to discuss Measure E, a $230M local bond measure to benefit College of the Canyons. But before we consider what's to come, let's revisit what was.<br /><br /><b>Kangaroo Court</b><br /><br />Mayor Kellar provided the invocation. He remembered the murder of four police officers that took place in the Santa Clarita Valley 46 years ago. At the time, Kellar was a young LAPD officer, and he remembered how the shooting rattled officers and departments across the country. The event was on his mind because of recent efforts by Eternal Valley, KHTS and others to keep the memory of the slain officers alive.<br /><br />Council recognition went to two efforts aimed at making Santa Clarita clean and green. "Hands On Santa Clarita" was applauded for removing tens of tons of trash from the valley, and a proclamation was made for Arbor Day. At the Earth/Arbor Day Event, residents will be able to secure free trees and ladybugs, the latter of which their children can sprinkle on bushes or lawns or driveways to wander, die, or invade Santa Clarita. Ah, tradition.<br /><br />Public participation comments were almost exclusively focused on mobile home park issues. "I washed my clothes three times and the tire marks are still there," said Elaine Ballace of a recent hearing concerning rents at Parklane Estates. She was alluding to the fact that residents got thrown under the bus by park owners and by city staff at the hearing. She felt both worked against residents' interests. The number of people she named as being thrown under the bus would have made for a very sizable jolt indeed. Ballace also called the proceedings a "kangaroo court" and demanded corrective action be taken to defend renters' interests. Al Ferdman followed Ballace and gave a little more detail on the apparent "kangaroo court." Ferdman explained that residents had gathered signatures, but the board questioned the validity of the signatures and a lawyer representing mobile home park owners was allowed to unofficially interrogate residents about their signatures and claims. Ferdman claimed there was no authority allowing this to happen. He went so far as to claim that he witnessed "city staff intentionally derail the process." Ferdman said he would provide a DVD of the hearing to City Manager Striplin to see what went on.<br /><br />Two Spanish-speaking residents also spoke out against conditions facing renters, especially at Granada Villa. Another man spoke about his parents' experience. They signed a 20-year contract and have seen rents shoot up 168% over the years.<br /><br />Steve Petzold changed topic. He reminded the council that, were it not for the California Voting Rights Act lawsuit, today would have been election day. This was an attempt to provoke discussion about district-based voting, but the provocation proved ineffective. He also spoke about Measure E, a quarter-billion dollar bond measure to improve classroom facilities and parking at College of the Canyons. Petzold said that with only half of COC students residing in the community college district, it was unfair for Claritans to subsidize the college.<br /><br />Cam Noltemeyer, the last public speaker, said that she wanted to give Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta a lesson on redevelopment. She claimed that Acosta was confusing redevelopment for developer handouts with regard to Old Town Newhall.<br /><br /><b>"Personalize It"</b><br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin dismissed Noltemeyer's remarks by explaining that Newhall was being redeveloped under the observation of applicable laws and with community support. He deigned not to address mobile home park concerns. Councilmember Laurene Weste did instead. She said that the situation is complex, especially with the lawsuit that the city is facing from mobile home park owners and the city's limited ability to act on these matters. She proposed bringing some particularly egregious cases to state legislators. Weste felt this might "personalize it" and get some state action on questionable mobile home park practices. Councilmember TimBen Boydston also sympathized with renters and pushed for action, and the mayor and city manager affirmed that further steps would be taken.<br /><br />Councilmember updates covered the Cowboy Festival, public transportation, and various local events. Mayor Kellar asked to put discussion of Measure E on a future agenda. McLean was uncomfortable with the idea. She said that she felt it would be decided by the voters. "What would you hope to get out of that?" she asked of the proposed discussion. Kellar said that he hoped the council would voice its support because College of the Canyons plays a big role in the community. He was able to get the item agendized with support from Boydston, who said he'll always support additional discussion of any item, and from a somewhat reluctant Weste, who gave her support because Kellar wanted the item discussed so badly. Whether Kellar will return the favor and support discussion of one of Boydston's pet issues remains to be seen.<br /><br />The consent calendar received no discussion this evening. Items included recycling grants, improving trail access with a new ramp, and concrete rehabilitation. Perhaps no discussion was in order. All items passed with the recommended actions. This afforded plenty of time for three more involved items relating to Vista Canyon, annexation, and libraries.<br /><br /><b>Annex Me Not</b><br /><br />First up was discussion of a plan to form a community facilities district for Vista Canyon. This is essentially a means of funding three parking structures and part of a metro station through special taxes/bonds. The City of Santa Clarita will ultimately take ownership of the parking structures and land beneath them. This last point was a concern of Boydston, who noted some ambiguity in the language (i.e., "may" instead of "would" take the land--the city has the right to, it seems). The plan was approved after one of those silly ballot counting exercises where the developer holds control of the vote.<br /><br />Following Vista Canyon, the City Council was asked to consider moving forward with annexation of over 1,000 acres of the West Hills and West Creek areas. The next steps in that process were defined as prezoning and submitting an application to LAFCO. There was general support from residents (over two-thirds favor annexation, though most survey cards haven't been returned) and City Manager Ken Striplin said, "Timing is of the essence." The sole speaker on this plan was Alan Fenstermacher, an attorney representing Fountainhead Development. He explained that the developer was planning to build an assisted living senior housing facility, three drive-thru restaurants, and gas station in one of the areas proposed for annexation. He said that the developer has spent two years processing entitlements with the county, and they were worried about starting from scratch with the city. He suggested delaying annexation of the area where his client's development would take place. They wanted to avoid being "annexed at the 5-yard line." <br /><br />A lot of back and forth followed between the attorney and councilmembers with input from City Manager Striplin and City Attorney Montes. It seemed that after annexation, Santa Clarita would have say over the project but could honor the agreements and approvals that had been worked out between county and developer up to that point. The letter from the attorney (sent earlier the same day) ruffled some feathers with allegations of inadequate noticing and other grounds for delaying annexation. Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta decided to be particularly forceful in dealing with Fenstermacher, saying, "No one likes a liar." The developer and city staff had been in talks for months, and Acosta was offended at the implication that the annexation issue had surprised the developer due to insufficient notice.<br /><br />There was more than enough time for Fenstermacher to make his case for the developer, but he hadn't swayed many minds. Ken Striplin felt that, "Attorneys in the firm are being overly conservative in anticipating concerns," and Joe Montes noted that it would take another two weeks to formally approve the proposed steps toward annexation. That was time for quick processing of entitlements with the county or for concerns to be more concretely articulated. The council moved forward with the annexation process and without special accommodations for Fountainhead Development.<br /><br />The final item on tonight's agenda was approval of a five-year contract with LSSI, the company that runs the city's libraries. Darren Hernandez said that major measures of library use have improved since Santa Clarita left the county library system. Holdings have expanded, attendance and use of facilities have increased, and there are a number of popular programs. The agenda item recommended that LSSI continue to operate the libraries. The budget would steadily increase from $3.6M in FY 2016-17 to $3.9M in FY 2020-21.<br /><br />For those new to Santa Clarita or with short memories, the transition from county-run to privately-run libraries was a hugely contentious event in recent Claritan history. Tonight, some familiar faces from that fight come forward to comment on the contract extension. Lori Rivas towed a cart of dozens of books to the podium for her remarks. She said that the volumes had been purchased but soon off-loaded by the Santa Clarita Library--her own little libraries couldn't accommodate all the discarded material. Rivas said this suggested waste, and she reminded the council that LSSI profits from purchases and expansions. It would make more sense, she said, to explore a plan to have the city run the libraries, returning would-be profits back to the community. Rivas has such a plan and she has been promoting it, but she says the council has not really explored the option. Deanna Hanashiro also spoke. She felt that the Santa Clarita Library didn't have the same value as and resources of the LA County Library, and she mentioned specific grievances from the takeover,. This included disposal of VHS tapes. Al Ferdman contended that our library has some $8M in debt, and he too felt that the system could be managed better.<br /><br />Councilmember TimBen Boydston was the most sympathetic to the concerns that had been voiced. He brought up Lori Rivas' proposal, which he said he liked, but he didn't find support from other councilmembers to formally discuss it at some future meeting. Boydston also pointed out that the council still comprised the Board of Library Trustees. He reminded several councilmembers that they had promised to serve in that capacity only temporarily. Now, it's essentially trustee for life (political life, at least).<br /><br />Councilmember Marsha McLean gave a spirited defense of Santa Clarita's system. She said privatization was an excellent decision. Programs haven't turned children away due to lack of resources, local tax dollars are serving the community directly, and new materials and facilities have been paid for. Hernandez also countered Ferdman's point about the library debt, saying that LSSI operates for less than the amount of library tax revenue generated each year. He said that the initial debt was being steadily paid off. With that, the council (well, everyone but Boydston) approved a contract for about $20M that will keep LSSI in the libraries through 2020.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/B-cTbBmdG8k" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com2http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/04/annex-fever-and-library-contentment.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-7448623639579359772016-03-09T11:13:00.000-08:002016-03-09T11:19:50.993-08:00Plan for Art, Park for Harte, Cushions for DorothyTonight's Santa Clarita City Council meeting was short and, for the most part, efficient. The mobile home park saga escalated--an emergency ordinance to protect senior housing was extended and plans were made to write a letter (gasp!) to elected officials about difficulties faced by mobile home park renters. Santa Clarita's rather underwhelming arts master plan was accepted and an inexplicable amount of praise lavished on the plan's consultants. The meeting ended with the naming of a small park in honor of the late Duane Harte. Now, to recapping.<br /><br /><b>Opening Matters</b><br /><b><br /></b>[<i>Note</i>: The video feed of this meeting didn't go live until some Boy Scouts were in the middle of leading the pledge, so I missed Weste's invocation and any other noteworthy events from the first five minutes. My regrets.]<br /><br />Public participation begain with Elaine Ballace. She asked if anyone has seen her scarf (it's been missing for weeks), told us it was her birthday tomorrow ("Yeah Pisces!" she cheered), and said it's time to get some bigger power players involved in the mobile home rent issue. Ballace said she has tried to get others involved but to no avail. "I just got the runaround. So I plead to you, maybe you have more pull with the State and getting something done. I realize my celebrity status means nothing to them," she said, with a short but scornful laugh.<br /><br />A man representing Santa Clarita's tennis community asked for more tennis courts to be built.<br /><br />Steve Petzold make the rookie mistake of handing in a written comment card instead of a speaker card, but Mayor Bob Kellar still allowed him to speak. At the microphone, Petzold explained that he had been reflecting on the Laemmle meeting and found himself "dissatisfied" with the discussion that had transpired. He thought discussion of the specific elements of the subsidy would have been more valuable than merely debating the pros and cons of a new theater. His quick accounting of property value changes and City losses in the area was not the clearest, but it seems this isn't the last we will hear about the Laemmle subsidy. Petzold closed by requesting an open discussion/study of the California Voting Rights Act and district-based voting in Santa Clarita.<br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin mechanically addressed the speakers. He said that tennis courts will be considered for the final phase of Central Park and he restated the City's long history of work on mobile home park policy. Petzold's recommended review of district-based voting was not pursued further.<br /><br />Councilmember updates primarily consisted of listing local event after local event--the celebrity waiter dinner was mentioned no fewer than three times. Councilmember Weste went a more substantive route when she announced that the supplemental EIR for chloride treatment will be discussed at the end of the month. She didn't mention anything about the lawsuit that Allan Cameron was gloating about last month (the suit that supposedly changed the chloride issue at a fundamental level). <br /><br /><br /><b>Slow Down, Dorothy</b><br /><b><br /></b>The consent calendar had only two non-routine items. The first offered the council's support for a state assembly bill to benefit the developmentally disabled. The second proposed adding speed cushions and stop signs to Dorothy Way, which has attracted speeding drivers seeking a cut-through to Golden Valley Road. A couple of residents said that something needed to be done to slow dangerous traffic in their community, so they supported these measures. Councilmember Marsha McLean made a point of telling the audience that the community's developers had been required to set aside funds for traffic calming, so the measures were being paid for by them, not taxpayers. This and the other items on the consent calendar were approved as written.<br /><br /><br /><b>Write a Letter</b><br /><b><br /></b>The council voted to extend an emergency ordinance protecting senior housing for another ten months. The ordinance was passed because some mobile home parks were attempting to change from seniors-only housing to family housing, which is more lucrative. The problem is that seniors on fixed incomes might lose their homes because of associated surges in rent. A number of speakers asked the council to continue doing what it could to help renters. Specific complaints were made, but they often came from parks where the city can do little else to interfere/intervene. City Attorney Joe Montes and City Manager Ken Stripling both spent some time explaining the limits of the city's ability to act--for example, long-term leases are exempt from some city codes. &nbsp; <br /><br />Once again, Councilmember Laurene Weste was the staunchest advocate for renters. She said, "I just can't buy into the fact that these people are being gouged this way, and I think it's time that we send a letter articulating some of the grievances that we're seeing. Nevermind the State Ombudsman, let's just send a letter to all the elected officials in the State of California in the legislature." Cheers came from the audience. "I recognize that, you know, that it's a black hole, but when you look at this kind of abuse, they [renters] have two choices: they can pay it or they can lose the little investment they have in a mobile home. That's all they have, they have nothing else." Weste asked if anyone supported her suggestion, and Boydston agreed with her "whole-heartedly." Mayor Kellar gave his support as well, which was enough to get the letter rolling and to get more applause from the small crowd. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jlSf8cS5tu0/VuB1KoBvzhI/AAAAAAAADyk/al0OZwPASvE/s1600/Weste.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jlSf8cS5tu0/VuB1KoBvzhI/AAAAAAAADyk/al0OZwPASvE/s400/Weste.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><b>Art, Planned</b><br /><br />New business began with consideration of a representative for the Southern California Association of Goverments General Assembly. Councilmember Boydston nominated McLean to be representative and Acosta to serve as alternate, and the council unanimously agreed on both nominations without discussion. McLean gave a quite "thank you" after the vote; she's always been partial to SCAG.<br /><br />Tonight also marked the presentation of Santa Clarita's arts master plan for adoption. The City may have an arts commission, but it took the work of consultants to tell Santa Clarita how to art better. Their master plan was presented, a series of platitudes and cliches given the appearance of meaning by being prefaced with titles or organized into lists. For example:<br /><br />"Vision Statement"<br /><i>The City of Santa Clarita will be recognized as a “city of the arts,” where the lives of residents, artists, and visitors are enriched through artistic and cultural experiences.</i><br /><div><br /></div>"Key Findings"<br />#2: <i>The community is generally satisfied with the current arts and cultural offerings.</i><br />#4: <i>Residents express strong interest in celebrating history and cultural heritage.</i><br />#7: <i>Arts and culture are seen as an excellent way to promote diversity and inclusion.</i><br /><br />Developing a "work plan" is the next stage of the project. Despite the less than compelling master plan, Mayor Kellar and Councilmember Weste went to some effort to recognize the consultants behind the work. Kellar asked Ingrid Hardy, community services superintendent, to "acknowledge the two gentlemen [consultants] here in the front row for their input." Hardy had already done that at the start of her presentation, but apparently two introductions were warranted. "Excellent, excellent job gentlemen, we thank you very much, very, very much," gushed Kellar. Weste said, "[The consultants] understood the real heart of Santa Clarita...we are special and unique and you found that!" Kellar closed by saying, "I would request that a letter be prepared for the entire City Council to sign acknowledging our consultants and what we consider to be a very professional job on behalf of our city." The amount of attention and praise was rather extraordinary.<br /><br />The only critical suggestion came from Councilmember TimBen Boydston, who otherwise spoke about the plan in glowing terms. He said that he wasn't fully sold on the idea of the arts being organized thematically by community. According to the plan, Newhall gets "history and cultural heritage," Valencia is to be the home of art that is "contemporary and abstract," the art of Saugus should "celebrate youth and families and cultural diversity," and Canyon Country art falls under a theme to "explore nature and surrounding open spaces and the environment." Boydston gently criticized this plan (which he said reminded him of themed areas at Disneyland) for perhaps saddling a community with a theme they might not like as much as others. The idea is also just profoundly stupid, but that point was not addressed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PjaVpOp4aYw/VuB1KoP1DII/AAAAAAAADyg/aopFMA_-Bq8/s1600/Art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PjaVpOp4aYw/VuB1KoP1DII/AAAAAAAADyg/aopFMA_-Bq8/s640/Art.png" width="640" /></a></div><i>Note:</i>&nbsp;This is my interpretation of what constitutes representative art for the various community themes, intended to highlight the silliness of it all. Not a figure from the master plan or presentation.<br /><br /><br /><b>A Park for Harte</b><br /><b><br /></b>The late Duane Harte, remembered as a commissioner, volunteer, and truly community-minded individual, was honored by renaming River Village Park as "Duane R. Harte Park at River Village." Mayor Kellar said that there was a lot of support for the plan, and he thought the park was a fitting tribute because it had been just a block away from Harte's last home. The suggestion was supported.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/gYaga2Fvb4c" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com0http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/03/plan-for-art-park-for-harte-cushions.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-6371148659248127442016-02-24T10:59:00.000-08:002016-02-24T10:59:53.125-08:00What Happens When We Die<a data-mce-href="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Acost.png" href="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Acost.png" rel="attachment wp-att-376"><img alt="Acost" class="wp-image-376 aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Acost-300x209.png" height="336" src="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Acost-300x209.png" width="482" /></a><br />Death and legacy are concerns, at times, of the Santa Clarita City Council. Tonight, there was little else on the agenda. Honorary naming, Duane Harte, gold star families, Wyatt Savaike, the proper place for a war memorial--all were considered. Even Allan Cameron's announcement of a recent court victory(?) regarding chlorides focused on the end, in his case the invalidation of an EIR. It's time for a rather morbid reflection.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b>R.J. vs. Bill</b><br />Councilmember TimBen Boydston's invocation was a reading of George Washington's "Earnest Prayer" and a request that God bless the City of Santa Clarita.<br />After Canyon High School's drama crew missed their chance to be recognized at the last meeting, they were present this week--well, three of them. I felt that if the audience had to hear about their victory at the Drama Teachers Association of Southern California Competition twice in one month, more of them should have showed up. Maybe they don't like the lighting at City Hall. <br />Also recognized was Detective Bill Velek of Santa Clarita's juvenile intervention team ("The J Team") for helping young drug users turn their lives around.<br />After the detective received his certificate and photo, one Michael Cruz strode purposefully toward the podium. As Chair of the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission, Cruz was intent on educating his fellow Claritans about the goals that he and his fellow commissioners had established for 2016. Though his commission is all fun and recreation, Cruz's crisp suit and slate-blue tie were all business. Unflaggingly, goal followed goal; ambition followed ambition; promise followed promise. Cruz spoke of a 2016 that, if realized, will increase everything from park use to open space acquisition to opportunities for "non-traditional sports." When he finished, the audience sat silent, apparently too stunned to applaud.<br />Public participation followed. R.J. Kelly gave his support for the "Hometown Heroes" military banner program that would be discussed later in the meeting. He also stated his support for Bill Reynolds' memorial for veterans, which has been mentioned at prior meetings. To be clear, he supported the memorial, but he definitely didn't support the proposed location of the memorial monument in Newhall Veterans Historical Plaza. "I'm not happy to support the location...the reality of it is we wanted it to be veterans, we did not want it to be a memorial." He added, "It should be at Eternal Valley." Bill Reynolds also happened to be present this evening, and he countered Kelly by describing just how supportive people like Terri Crain and Don Fleming (FLEMwatch alert!) have been of the memorial project. Hopefully, the monument won't have "Sponsored by Valencia Acura" chiseled into its granite. <br />A restaurant owner spoke about people illegally selling food on the street near his shop. He asked for sheriff's deputies to shut the vendors down, but he said it was quite a process and that enforcement hasn't happened. He worried that food might not be held at the correct temperature, especially in summer. Al Ferdman spoke about the need for more park facilities to serve a variety of residents. Indeed, Ferdman is now throwing his support behind calls for a BMX facility in Santa Clarita (the usual pro-BMX speaker was also present tonight). Ferdman said that the city has more than adequate cash available (~$50M in appropriate funds by his reckoning) that could be used for a BMX track, something that surveys and testimony show the public wants. Another frequent speaker, Steve Petzold, asked for an update on the California Voting Rights Act lawsuit that Santa Clarita was involved in some time ago.<br />One group of speakers was particularly impactful. You may remember the sad story of Wyatt Savaikie, a 14-year-old boy who was struck and killed by a car while skateboarding through a crosswalk last summer. Tonight, friends and family of Savaikie came up to call for changes to Santa Clarita's roads and driving culture. Four of his teenage friends came up first, asking that something be done about the speed limit on Bouquet Canyon Road. Teresa Savaikie, Wyatt's mother, also spoke. She was surrounded by a large number of friends and supporters as she tearfully asked that the City prioritize pedestrian safety. She said that when pedestrians are hit by cars traveling over 40 mph, 85% of them perish. The 74-year-old driver who hit her son wasn't singled out--all Santa Clarita drivers were asked to use the roads more mindfully.<br />Gladys Trejo, speaking with an interpreter, asked for more legal assistance and guidance from the City for mobile home park residents. She said the situation they are facing in Granada Villa is "an emergency." Elaine Ballace also requested assistance from City Hall. It's clear that the lawsuit that the City of Santa Clarita is facing from mobile park owners has given the council some credibility in her eyes, but she expressed continuing frustration. In particular, Ballace dislikes the fact that owners never show up to be confronted directly--they're always represented by attorneys instead.<br />City Manager Ken Striplin responded to most of the comments. He said that he felt the illegal food businesses could be addressed under current practices/policies; a new initiative wasn't needed. In response to the mobile home park residents, he re-stated the history of the City Council's efforts with ordinances and outreach. Striplin said that there wasn't much more new that could be done. Striplin is never particularly sympathetic, but he was as sympathetic as he could be to Teresa Savaikie and her supporters. He said that law enforcement gives him weekly updates about traffic enforcement numbers, but he concluded that, "It does come down to behavior." He assured her that he would remain committed to partnering with law enforcement to make streets safer for pedestrians. Finally, City Attorney Joe Montes addressed Steve Petzold's question about the CVRA lawsuit. "Barring an appeal, that case is over," he concluded. The three parts of the settlement were a shift in election date (fall, not spring), change to at-large voting, and, of course, $600,000 for the people who sued Santa Clarita over voting rights--God bless their goodly hearts. Since at-large voting was struck down, only the change in voting date seems to have stuck. No appeal or new litigation were mentioned.<br />Updates by the council were perfunctory with a couple of exceptions. Councilmembers Laurene Weste and Marsha McLean paid special tribute to the recently departed Frank Kleeman. His wife came forward and was very appreciative that he was being so well and fondly remembered. McLean mentioned that Old Town Newhall is a wonderful place to go, and Mayor Pro Tem Acosta agreed. Councilmember TimBen Boydston was able to arrange for an update on traffic violations and enforcement at an upcoming meeting to learn if the roads are becoming safer. <br /><a data-mce-href="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/McLean.png" href="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/McLean.png" rel="attachment wp-att-377"><img alt="McLean" class="wp-image-377 aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/McLean-300x211.png" height="371" src="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/McLean-300x211.png" width="527" /></a><br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b>A Teachable Moment</b><br />Some items on the consent calendar attracted a few comments. Doug Fraser supported the final passage of an amendment that formalized the procedure for alternates on the Manufactured Home Rental Adjustment Panel. This should make for fairer voting in instances where representatives have to recuse themselves.<br />Cam Noltemeyer spoke on two items pertaining to local development. 'This is just one of those teachable moments of the type of development that's going on in this city," she explained. The first item initiated the process for establishing a community facilities district for Vista Canyon. Noltemeyer spoke about such Mello-Roos districts and other shady developer tactics. She stayed at the podium to speak on the next item, which she prefaced with the statement, "I will continue this education for the community." She was upset about this item, which had to do with supervision of alterations to the river banks in the Vista Canyon area, because of its costs and impact on the watershed.<br />Councilmember McLean pulled an item concerning a mulching contract. She asked where the mulch was coming from, and staff couldn't provide much of an answer. A man said that some mulch would come from plant material in Santa Clarita, and some from material outside of Santa Clarita. She didn't push the issue further, however. All items were approved with the recommended actions.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b>Monuments and Replacements</b><br />Mayor Kellar opened up the new business portion of the evening with a summary of the "Hometown Heroes Military Banner Program." This program would involve hanging 3' x 6' heavy vinyl banners along major roads, each with a color photo and information about a currently-serving member of the military. It would cost the friends/family/sponsors of the service-member &nbsp;$417.50, and the banner would be hung three times for the year (weeks around Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day). The banner could be hung the next year at a lower cost, since it would already be printed. The item proposed spending a little over $4,000 to cover the cost of 11 banners for Gold Star Families. It seems this is why Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta recused himself from this item (his son, Rudy, was killed while serving in Afghanistan). The item was well-supported. While there was some discussion of covering the cost of banners for currently-serving men and women, the plan was approved as it was written.<br />The next item of new business had to do with creation of an "Honor Court" to remember Claritans of consequence. Councilmember McLean has been pushing for something like this for quite a while, and she explained her logic. She said that they often receive requests to name things or places after certain people, and it's hard to say "no" without dishonoring the departed. Her vision was to have some kind of audio storyboard for each person--visitors could hear about the life and contributions of the person being remembered at a kiosk or similar venue.<br />McLean's idea was quite unpopular. "I fail to see where we're fixing anything that's wrong," said Mayor Kellar, who felt that the council does a fine job of dispensing recognition and honor as warranted. "I don't know that there's really been a problem," agreed Mayor Pro Tem Acosta. Apart from seeing the honor court as a solution in want of a problem, others criticized criteria for listing as too subjective. The item suggested something like 10 years of residence in Santa Clarita, exemplary character, and major contributions, but it was easy to imagine circumstances that would make these criteria too inclusive or too exclusive. Still, there was support for keeping the idea of something to honor the deceased (likely something digital) open to future discussion. This came after McLean said, dejectedly, "If you don't like the idea, well, then, it dies." Her fellow councilmembers told McLean to stick with it and they promised to think more about the right way to honor Santa Clarita's notable-but-deceased.&nbsp;<br />The final bit of new business was appointment of Donald Cruikshank to fill the Parks Commission vacancy left by the death of the beloved Duane Harte. Harte had been Kellar's appointment, so he was tasked with nominating the replacement. Kellar explained that Cruikshank was selected based on the interviews and opinions of a 5-person group that Kellar had assembled for that very purpose. Cruikshank and his family were delighted and remembered Harte fondly.<br />During the closing section of public participation, Cam Noltemeyer spoke first about the "rather shocking" behavior of the Laemmle Theater "flash mob" that had attended the last meeting to express support for the city's plan to give millions in taxpayer funds to the theater chain. They were too raucous and riled up to have realized that funds were being used inappropriately, contended Noltemeyer.<br />Allan Cameron then offered his announcement of today's court decision pertaining to the Affordable Clean Water Alliance's legal action against the Santa Clarita Water District. He said the litigation has scarcely been mentioned or acknowledged by the City, but in a superior court ruling made today, the ACWA prevailed. Cameron's explanation of this action was pretty abysmal--it was hard to follow what had happened because he was so intent on relishing the victory and pointing out the City's hastiness and other faults. By the time he got to the punchline his time was practically up: "The EIR that is the foundation of all this machination and cost has been invalidated...the opportunities that this gives this community are wonderful and positive." Weste said that sanitation district attorneys were reviewing the court decision but didn't offer much clarification beyond that. The meeting then ended.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/eyS-EPQaBcw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com0http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/02/what-happens-when-we-die.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-10716198372428251502016-02-10T18:20:00.002-08:002016-02-10T18:20:29.612-08:00Claritans Cheer Donation to Theater Chain, Acosta Unleashed<div>Tonight, three-fourths of the Santa Clarita City Council approved a very popular plan for Old Town Newhall that includes a parking structure, mixed retail/residential, and a Laemmle theater, the best that $18M in taxpayer funds can buy. It's not the end of the redevelopment story, but it still took five hours to get there. The lengthy meeting was a product of other business (council raises, mobile homes), Boydston's extensive comments about the theater proposal, and a very talkative public. Indeed, there were dozens of supporters for Laemmle, many of whom saw the theater chain as nothing less than the salvation of Newhall--nay, the salvation of Newhall, Santa Clarita's economy, and the Arts themselves. A few opposing voices were largely ineffective. Bob Kellar would close the meeting with the promise that "We're gonna have a Laemmle Theater in this town!" Time for recapitulation.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><i>*<b>Note:</b> "theater" will be used instead of "theatre"--Laemmle uses both, but "theater" is used more often on its <a href="http://www.laemmle.com/faq/1" target="_blank">FAQ</a>&nbsp;page. Unfortunately, consistent spelling was not a condition of tonight's deal.</i></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Dangerous Dairy</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Mayor McLean's invocation addressed a topic that made her "a little sad." She spoke of the passing of Frank Kleeman, a man who served many non-profits in Santa Clarita. McLean had spoken with Frank's wife, who revealed that Frank would have been shocked at the attention his passing received in <i>The Signal</i>&nbsp;and at City Hall. McLean believes that volunteers ought to know they are valued while they're still alive, and she advised people in the crowd to make their appreciation known.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Men of Harmony Chorus came to the front of the room and sang because, well, why the hell not. The performance was pleasing in its brevity.</div><div><br /></div><div>No coherent threads could be pulled from public participation. State Senator Bob Huff introduced himself to the crowd because he's going to be running for LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich's seat once he's termed out. Huff seemed rather self-involved, so he would be a natural successor. Elaine Ballace asked for someone to return her missing scarf (one of her favorites, she said). She also requested that those in power, particularly council members, show some support for mobile home residents by attending rent panel meetings. A local father and BMX enthusiast said he's been taking steps to get a BMX track in Santa Clarita and asked for discussion of options to be agendized next meeting.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Al Ferdman was upset at what he perceived to be City efforts to block the County from meeting with residents to talk about park needs. The County has been engaging in outreach as research before a bond measure. In response, Rick Gould said that they've already had many meetings with residents and have passed those results along to LA County, and City Manager Ken Striplin said that they could provide the county with a meeting venue if the county would go to the trouble of organizing and publicizing the meeting itself. Striplin stated that opting out of the recent meetings didn't mean Santa Clarita would be exempt from county park funds. Ferdman brought up the matter again in a later comment, stating that he'd call the county tomorrow morning to get the ball rolling on a meeting. At that point, an annoyed Mayor Kellar "reminded" Ferdman that elected officials and staff make such calls, not Al himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Two college students were the final public speakers. The first read a slew of statistics about environmental issues, most relating to industrial agriculture. He requested that the council require school assemblies to inform students about these issues. The second student took things several steps further. He said that just because something is a part of one's culture, that doesn't mean it's right--he used the history of slavery in the U.S. as an example. But the cultural norm he was interested in changing was consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy. He said the practice was unhealthy and unethical, and he went into considerable detail about how most of the world is lactose-intolerant. He also called for better food education of Claritan youths. The council seemed more amused by the youth and pluck of these speakers than impressed by their proposals, but City Manager Striplin encouraged them to bring their suggestions to a school board meeting. Steve Petzold was the first to juxtapose their comments with the McRib comments of several meetings ago. He tweeted, "#sccouncil hungry for a mah crib," after the plea for more vegan lifestyle choices.</div><div><br /></div><div>Council updates followed. They were a mix of tedium, anticipation, and remembrance. In summary: go to the Cowboy Festival.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Dante Takes on TimBen</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>The consent calendar was relatively brief, but the second readings of two items attracted discussion. First, several speakers said that they supported the plan to appoint voting alternates for the mobile home rent panel. This would make up for lost votes in those instances where panel members must recuse themselves from voting because they own or rent at a particular park. But with some appeals in the near future, several on the council wanted the change to the ordinance to be put into effect immediately, not after the next election when it would be too late. Councilmember McLean said "We're smart and we should be able to come up with something that will work!" By "we" she meant City Attorney Joe Montes, who was tasked with devising a solution on the spot. He said that the council could adopt the ordinance and make plans for accelerating the election of alternates. In the interim, hearings on cases where alternates were needed for owners or renters would be postponed. The council was happy to accept the plan, but when considering the fallout, Montes could offer nothing more than a promise to "play the cards where they fall," which mixes a couple of gambling metaphors but still manages to communicate the uncertainties ahead.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Most significantly, the entire council is now behind mobile home park residents. With the lawsuit that the city is facing from owners, continual skirting of rent policies, and literally <i>years</i>&nbsp;of hearing about mobile home woes from renters at every meeting, the&nbsp;councilmembers are frustrated. Weste feels that the entire state has failed to find a solution, and even Mayor Kellar said, "It's time this thing gets fixed."</div><div><br /></div><div>During discussion of an item finalizing raises for the 2017-8 council, things got even more tense. Acosta was the most fired up. From his <a href="http://resumes.breakdownexpress.com/402798-1516453" target="_blank">variety of acting roles</a>, which range from "Angry Middle Eastern Driver" to diabetic father to the quirky "Chef Hollandaise", it's clear that the mayor pro tem knows how to emote. But he's usually quite reserved at council meetings, if he speaks at all. Not so tonight.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>After Councilmember Boydston made his expected protest of a 10% raise, a decision he called "morally reprehensible," Acosta called him out. "We couldn't just leave it alone...Councilmember Boydston seconded this item to be put back on the agenda!" Acosta contended that Boydston wanted to use the discussion of pay raises as an opportunity to discuss cash-in-lieu benefit discrepancies, but when Boydston was told he couldn't discuss them, he flipped on the matter. Next, Acosta chastised Boydston for always having to have the last word and he said the raise would be applied next year, not immediately. "Should you be so fortunate enough to get reelected, I'm challenging you to direct the city manager to dock your pay that amount and give it to the seniors," Acosta told Boydston. He added that the raise would help to cover the expenses he covers for his elderly mother, whose car is in the shop today. Acosta closed by calling Boydston "disingenuous" and asked, "Did you only bring it up to cudgel us with it?...Sorry but I'm tired of it." Acosta's remarks were somewhat scattered, but the crowd applauded him. Unlike former Mayor McLean, Mayor Kellar doesn't make much effort to restrict applause.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Councilmember Boydston, let's try to keep it kindly," Mayor Kellar warned before letting Boydston respond to Acosta (Acosta received no such warning). Boydston said of Acosta's claims, "Nothing could be further from the truth." He said he seconded discussion of raises because he's frustrated that a councilmember needs support of others councilmembers to get an item on the agenda. And in Boydston's book, more discussion is always good. Acosta began defending the raise to the audience yet again, saying, "We make basically just over minimum wage." He said he would be comfortable letting voters decide "Am I worth $183 more a month or not?"</div><div><br /></div><div>When the vote on the raise went around, Boydston said yes. Some members of the audience reacted in disbelief, and after a few moments Boydston realized his error, the crowd guffawed, and Boydston corrected his vote to a "no". Kellar was the other "no", but the item passed with the support of McLean, Weste, and ,of course, Mayor Pro Tem Acosta. The rest of the consent calendar was approved with the recommended actions.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>$3.4 Million Reasons for Laemmle to Come to Santa Clarita</b></div><div><br /></div><div>At last, it was time for the big agenda item of the night: Laemmle. Jason Crawford kicked things off with a thorough presentation about the $21.6M construction project. There are multiple parts and parcels--mixed use business/residence, theater, parking. But the basics are that Serrano (developer) would purchase a chunk of property at fair market value. Then the City would pay for and give a chunk of property to Laemmle plus cover other costs/fees totaling $3.4M in subsidies to the theater chain. There were several conditions placed on Laemmle, including a requirement to operate 6 screens for at least 7 years (their plan is 7 screens), and no fewer than 4 screens thereafter for a total of 15 years. And finally, Santa Clarita would cover the multi-level parking structure, the really big ticket item. The request for proposals on the structure has yet to go out, but it's estimated at $15.2M. The plan is more finely detailed than what I've written and there were nearly two full pages of specific recommended actions for the council and redevelopment successor agency on the agenda, but that's the big picture.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Crawford spent quite a bit of time discussing the studies done and consultants consulted about economic benefits of the project. The presentation was full of stats and figures, but the critical one was an estimated ~$200,000 from increased sales tax revenue and increased property tax revenue. He also said that Santa Clarita wasn't the exception when it came to subsidizing the theater--Glendale gave $5.1M to get its Laemmle and North Hollywood residents subsidized theirs with $3.3M. Laemmle appears accustomed to accepting millions in subsidies as a housewarming present from communities.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the presentation ended, Greg Laemmle, who was in attendance, did not speak but rather sat through public comments. Mayor Kellar said that there were 40 speaker cards, and he recommended that people keep it brief lest everyone be "late for breakfast." The crowd laughed, and the procession of speakers began. (Councilmember Weste, incidentally, was in the Century Room watching because she has property in the area and had to recuse herself--Kellar had gotten laughs when he said he wanted to join her.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The vast majority of speakers and comment cards were in favor of the theater/retail plan. Many predicted a strong, positive financial impact on the community. The first speaker owns property in the area, and he explained how delighted he was that rents were going for $2 a square foot in anticipation of a theater. Other business owners in the area were supportive of bringing in a big new business to anchor downtown--these included the wife of a veterinarian who practices down the street and a woman who runs Organic Sweat Shack, an infrared sauna for sweating away calories. Terri Crain and Holly Schroeder offered the blessings of the Santa Clarita business community at large. Dick Jeffrey said, "No potential business should ever be denied simply because it represents a threat to a similar type of business in the same area. If there is not enough room for both, capitalism and that process that it entails will tell the tale and take care of the difference." In light of the generous subsidies and exclusive negotiation privileges that had been afforded Serrano/Laemmle, Jeffrey's contention that we were watching the free market work seemed poorly supported.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another batch of comments focused on benefits to Santa Clarita's arts scene. One woman complained that she has to drive over the pass to have her lunch and movie with the ladies. Another lamented her inability to watch Oscar-nominated films in local theaters. Bob Hernandez, president of ARTree, spoke slowly and with pregnant pauses as he offered his withering assessment of Claritan arts: "I believe in culture. We, frankly, in Santa Clarita, do not have any..." And Hernandez should know--he has blessed Santa Clarita with a tacky mural on the bike trail and crafty projects where kids can glue decoration onto shoes, which clearly establishes him as our valley's <i>de facto</i>&nbsp;cultural authority A local filmmaker was supportive of the project, just hoping that Newhall could avoid "all these chains that come and ruin everything" (the exception, of course, being the Laemmle chain). A man who has sold art films and just bought a home in Newhall said, "This town needs art, it needs it so bad!" He mentioned that Mike Levine, a beloved local actor who passed away a couple years ago, had wanted a theater like Laemmle. The speaker said it was "insane" (an adjective presumably addressed at Boydston) to push back against the project.</div><div><br /></div><div>There were many other supporters ranging from bicycling enthusiasts (who hoped for bike parking in the garage) to couples looking for something to do to people who have put their time into making Newhall great (well, great-ish). Carol Rock got quite a lot of applause after she laid out the merits of the project and made a preemptive critique of Boydston's opposition. She said that Boydston's theater guild had received a grant to move from Sierra Highway to Newhall, so Boydston, too, was a beneficiary of the public's largesse. And of course, Leon Worden, tireless champion of Newhall, history, and the intersection thereof, was in favor of the project.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some, however, spoke in opposition. Steve Petzold and Gene Dorio wondered whether the movie industry could even be counted on to exist in 15 years--was this the right horse to bet on in the race for long-term financial stability? This sentiment seemed at odds with recent record-setting movie ticket sales despite rampant piracy and improved home theaters. Deanna Hanashiro raised the threat of paid parking, and she said that with empty building elsewhere in town, a new theater amounted to a "frivolous" expenditure.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>When comments ended, Boydston asked for a bathroom break, explaining he's been ill all week. Kellar agreed, but asked, "Can we get 'er done in 5 minutes?" TimBen promised even faster.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Boydston Talks</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Councilmember Boydston was the first to speak, and he went on for the better part of an hour. His comments began with a lengthy explanation of his ability to be impartial on the item, despite having a theater that could benefit/lose from the presence of a Laemmle (he wasn't sure which was more likely--more traffic or competition.) Still, Boydston said, "There is nothing I would like better" than a Laemmle in town. He acknowledged that the City of Santa Clarita had subsidized the move of the Canyon Theater Guild in the past (they gave $1 for every $2 spend by the guild). All that said, Boydston presented another plan. It wasn't well drawn out, looking more like a draft from Microsoft Paint than a slick sketch, but it was adequate as a visual aid. His plan envisioned only commercial buildings and street level parking--no theater or big parking structure. Boydston said the plan would save a lot of money, and the City could expect to recover its investment in 11 years versus 97 years. Boydston said the money saved could go to: senior center ($2M), adult day care center ($2M), transitional care unit ($2M), year-round homeless services ($2M), no-kill animal shelter ($2M), parks facilities ($3M) and Via Princess extension or other roads ($5.6M). Basically, he was asking the people to weigh whether they wanted a theater and big parking or a major contribution to old people, puppies, the homeless, and the ill.</div><div><br /></div><div>The plan attracted no support.</div><div><br /></div><div>Boydston next had a lengthy interview with Greg Laemmle. He asked if they could guarantee that they would show arthouse-type films. Laemmle said they usually show a mix of popular and more obscure films depending on audience demands. Next, Boydston asked if the theater could add a $1 surcharge or tax on every ticket, which could be used to pay costs associated with development. Laemmle said that would put them at a competitive disadvantage and that the City would have to impose it. Boydston still pushed the idea, which didn't seem so outrageously unreasonable, but Laemmle said it was "Not something that I'm willing to do...I think that I've answered your question and the answer is no!" Some in the crowd cheered Laemmle. Apparently, they were supportive of his insistence on taking the full subsidy from Santa Clarita taxpayers.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Boydston's remarks began to test the patience of Mayor Kellar and the crowd. He tried to get clarification on whether anticipated tax revenue was coming from shuffling people around Santa Clarita or from attracting new patrons from outside the area. As the clock moved toward 11, Kellar put a time limit on Boydston so that other councilmembers could speak. "It's just getting out of hand here!" he said.</div><div><br /></div><div>Councilmember McLean moved the recommended actions for the City, and Mayor Pro Tem Acosta gave her a second. Acosta then moved the recommended actions of the redevelopment successor agency, and McLean gave him a second. Then Acosta offered a few minutes of his own thoughts. He said that the parking structure would benefit everyone and that that's what cities do--build parking. He said it would be cheaper now than later. Acosta also said that Laemmle was a small chain and gave charitably, so it was more deserving of public funds than, say, Regal.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Before the vote, Councilmember Boydston asked if they could separate the parts of the motions so that he could give his support to some limited aspects of the project while withholding support from others. City Attorney Joe Montes said it would take a bit of work, but a tired (or fed up, or both) council decided to force a vote of the motions as McLean and Acosta had already made them. Thus, Boydston voted no, and the others voted yes. The vote leaves much business to be settled, but the project is moving forward.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not sure if Old Town Newhall looks like a hundred million bucks, but it's more than halfway there in terms of tax expenditures ($50M was the figure that Leon Worden and others gave for City investment in Newhall to date, and this project adds another $20M or so). The theater development will be the biggest step yet toward Newhall's gentrification.</div><div><br /></div><div>The crowd cheered, and it was time for the last round of public participation. Only Cam Noltemeyer spoke, and more memorable than her remarks was her opening line at the microphone. Standing with steely contempt for the antics of those celebrating around her, she asked, "Could you calm down the rabble-rousers, please?" She complained about the "gift of public funds" and asked about redevelopment agency titles/capacities. The meeting ended a minute before 11.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Appendix: Whole Foods is to SoDoSoPa as Laemmle is to Old Town Newhall</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Below is a transcript from a recent episode of <i>South Park </i>("The City Part of Town") that explores gentrification of South Park's rundown center. A number of cities though the script was specifically about them, and it certainly works well for Newhall. In other words, it shows that Santa Clarita's pursuit of more cultural sophistication is making it a cultural cliche, right down to the twinkling white lights in the trees that say hey, I've gentrified. Just replace “SodoSoPa” with “Old Town Newhall” and “Whole Foods” with “Laemmle" in the script.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mayor:</b> I'm announcing a plan for SodoSoPa. A new urban development that will turn the most rundown and dilapidated part of our town into a quaint center of artisan shops and cafes.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Randy:</b> Lots of cities are doing this. The area south of Downtown South Park has always been the ugly eyesore of this town. But now, SodoSoPa is going to bring in the fresh new vibrancy that Whole Foods can't ignore.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Architect:</b> We'll keep the existing structures, but add brick walkways and some quaint white lights. A plaza in the middle will be a place where young couples can play with their toddlers. And it will all be small businesses like artisan cheese shops or noodle houses.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Randy:</b> Oh, this is really exciting. I thought this area was just gonna stay shitty forever… [in phone conversation trying to woo Whole Foods to set up shop in town:] We have a SodoSoPa and this town is completely different! SodoSoPa! We have an arts and entertainment district! Cultural!</div><div><br /></div><div>The arts/entertainment focus, the plaza, the brick walkways with white lights, the charming eateries, and even the mixed residential loft spaces…Old Town Newhall has/will have it all. How innovative, how sophisticated, how unique.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/rnsh1t1o1Eg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com2http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/02/claritans-cheer-donation-to-theater.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-11991455119291467332016-01-27T09:25:00.000-08:002016-01-27T11:48:42.256-08:00Rent, Landfill, Gas, Sewage: The Ends are NearTonight's Santa Clarita City Council meeting was full of inflammatory statements. Elaine Ballace said "They are raping both of us!" in reference to recent business practices by mobile home park owners. "We're sitting in a circle of death!" said a Val Verde resident of Santa Clarita's proximity to landfills and a natural gas storage field. And Councilmember TimBen Boydston proclaimed, "There is a special place in Hell reserved for you," that "you" referring to mobile home park owners who raised rents so as to effectively force seniors out. The heated rhetoric was certainly contagious--likely a result of discussing many issues that hit close to home (literally) tonight. Apart from fielding residents' worries about Chiquita Canyon Landfill, Honor Rancho, and mobile home rents, the council also managed to officially raise its future salary (second and final reading), shuffle around committee appointments (no luck again, TimBen), and take further actions in the ongoing mobile home struggle.<br /><br /><b><br /></b><b> Actually, That Wasn't Jefferson</b><br /><br />Mayor Kellar read many quotations from Thomas Jefferson to open the meeting. More correctly, they were quotations incorrectly attributed to Jefferson on certain websites and in some popular social media posts but for which there is no evidence of Jefferson's authorship. These included, "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government," and, "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." The Thomas Jefferson Foundation has a full page devoted to clearing up these&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/spurious-quotations" href="https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/spurious-quotations" target="_blank">spurious attributions</a>. Kellar closed with the observation that "He was a very, very intelligent man...many of his thoughts and writings...they apply every bit to today's society." Invocations are one of the portions of the meeting not scripted by city staff and, consequently, are prone to error.<br /><br />Awards and recognitions followed. The Valencia High School Marching Band was applauded for winning a recent competition despite the fact, we learned, that the program really struggles with funding and must use some 20-year-old instruments. Deputy Curtis Foster was recognized as the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Department Deputy of the Year, and the crowd was quite vocal in its support of him. Finally, the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Committee came up to celebrate itself. Holly Schroeder gave an update on the SCVEDC's year of accomplishments, which included attracting Logix Federal Credit Union's corporate headquarters to Santa Clarita--they're currently in Burbank. She said this would lead to an anticipated $1.7M boost in tax revenue each year. "If the economic development committee had not been involved in this project they would not have chosen the Santa Clarita Valley," Schroeder asserted. Other accomplishments included taking credit for listening to businesses, taking credit for businesses staying in Santa Clarita, and taking credit for the tagline, "Still Golden," which the SCVEDC was able to trademark because no hair color company or luxury retirement community was convinced that "Still Golden" was the right direction to take their marketing (my inference).<br /><br /><b><br /></b><b>The End is Near</b><br /><br />There was a decidedly apocalyptic tone to many of tonight's public participation remarks. Elaine Ballace spoke about mobile home park owners who are trying a variety of tactics to get more money from renters. She called them selfish and successful only because "he who has the best lawyer wins," not because justice has been on their side. "The landowners need to answer a little bit more clearly to the people, and to the city, because they are raping both of us!"&nbsp; she pronounced.<br /><br />A couple of Val Verde residents spoke about their experiences with Chiquita Canyon Landfill and the Castaic Area Town Council. Steve Lee described how residents found "receipts of deadly substances that the Chiquita Canyon Landfill accepted." They asked the CATC to write a letter to Supervisor Antonovich about the allegedly dangerous landfill practices, but the request was tabled multiple times until it was decided that no letter would be written. "One of the reasons was that to do so would cost them the promise of money from the landfill," said Lee. This inspired a recall effort, but there were many more obstacles to finding out exactly how many voter signatures were needed and to getting agencies to stand by their numbers (Lee said that the L.A. County Registrar, Congressman Knight's office, and others were contacted in this effort). Lee closed by stating that three people in Val Verde had recently died of cancer and that action was needed. Susan Evans, also of Val Verde, spoke about the CATC recall and predicted the valley's demise by some combination of the dumps, natural gas field, and oil pipeline: "We're sitting in a circle of death, in my opinion...we're sitting ducks waiting to blow up."<br /><br />Sandra Cattell and Cam Noltemeyer were also worried about Santa Clarita's natural gas storage field, Honor Rancho, in the north part of the valley. The massive gas leak at Aliso Canyon was used to urge the City Council to be more active in assessing the safety of Claritans.<br /><br />Lynne Plambeck implored the city to look into the proposed merger of the Castaic Lake Water Agency (CLWA) and Newhall County Water District (NCWD). She said that it would do nothing to benefit ratepayers: "Bigger is not better, a huge water monopoly in our valley will just increase our rates." She said that the CLWA has "had its way" with Santa Clarita for long enough.<br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin tried to calm concerns over Honor Rancho, which he said had just one-third the storage capacity of Aliso Canyon and was being thoroughly monitored for leaks. Striplin said that scrutiny by various oversight agencies is strict and that staff have been in communication with the gas facility. There was still interest from the council in learning more about the facility and about the potential effects of Aliso on the SCV. At the urging of some residents who had contacted her, Councilmember Marsha McLean asked that the Air Quality Management District make a statement about whether the Aliso methane plume could be impacting air quality in Santa Clarita.<br /><br />Overall, most councilmembers agreed that Aliso Canyon and Honor Rancho were not the same beast. Mayor Pro Tem Acosta stated, "This is a much different facility...it is quite a bit newer." And he should know, as he recalled "being chased off the [Aliso] property a number of times" in his wayward youth.<br /><br />Mayor Kellar asked for the council's interest in discussing the CLWA/NCWD merger, and interest was high. Councilmember McLean, in particular, wanted to ask "a lot of questions" because she is a NCWD ratepayer and would be affected.<br /><br />The council was mute on the topic of Chiquita Canyon Landfill and the politics of the Val Verde recall. These are out-of-city issues, certainly, but it wouldn't be untoward for Santa Clarita to look into Chiquita Canyon Landfill practices considering it's a nearby neighbor with whom the city shares an air- and water-shed. As readers don't likely need reminding, Chiquita has spent money on Santa Clarita politics, so it certainly seems to think that it's already on the radar.<br /><br /><b><br /></b><b>Separate&nbsp;Votes</b><br /><br />The consent calendar had a number of items that were handled in separate votes due to conflicts of interest or disagreement among the council members. Let's cover them in order, briefly.<br /><br />On Item 3, the second reading of the plan to increase 2017-18 councilmember salaries by 10%, Councilmember TimBen Boydston and Mayor Kellar voted no while the others pushed it through with their yes votes. Boydston reiterated his statement from last week that a raise wasn't warranted given that seniors hadn't seen an increase in social security, inflation hadn't shot up dramatically, and the workload of councilmembers remained about the same.<br /><br />The Cross Valley Connector was proposed to be renamed "Santa Clarita Veterans Memorial Parkway" in Item 4. Councilmember McLean asked that the word "Memorial" be removed so that the road would honor Santa Clarita's thousands of living veterans as well as the deceased, and everyone agreed.<br /><br />Item 5 presented $155,755 worth of grants to Santa Clarita's arts and community services groups. Groups recommended for funding ranged from the American Diabetes Association to the Gibbon Conservation Center to the Santa Clarita Philharmonic. The majority of groups that applied for funding were funded, and Councilmember McLean suggested that those which weren't funded seek help form the city on preparing their applications for next year. Boydston and Weste had to sit out votes on the Canyon Theater Guild and SCV Historical Society because of their involvement, but both of their groups were also funded.<br /><br />Finally, on Item 6, Al Ferdman expressed some dissatisfaction with the loan repayment arrangement between Santa Clarita's redevelopment successor agency and the city. Ferdman pointed out that only a tiny amount of the loan was being paid back and actually brought up one of Kellar's erroneous Jefferson quotes about the importance of paying off one's debts. City Manager Ken Striplin disagreed with Ferdman's assessment, however, stating that the State dictated interest terms and the repayment schedule. He added that it was good news that Santa Clarita would be getting paid back at all--the loans repayments could have remained unenforceable. The recommended loan modifications were approved.<br /><br /><b><br /></b><b>That Special Place in Hell</b><br /><br />If anyone had thought that the City Council's major overhaul of mobile home park ordinances would have helped ease tensions between park owners and renters, they were proven wrong yet again at tonight's meeting. In response to testimony from renters about senior parks changing to family parks (a change usually accompanied by a hefty hike in rents) and a problematic recusal policy for the Manufactured Home Rental Adjustment Panel, two actions were taken. First, the council approved an urgency ordinance that prevented any parks from changing from mostly/only seniors to all-age rentals. It went into effect immediately and will last 45 days. Second, the council passed to second reading a plan to appoint replacements on the mobile home review panel, which hears appeals. Currently, if someone on the panel owns or rents at a park under review, they must recuse themselves, which makes for a lopsided vote (the panel is composed of two owner reps, two renter reps, and one neutral arbiter, so losing an owner/renter could doom a vote from the start.) The new policy will be to allow the third-highest vote-getting representative from the effected side (owners/renters) to replace a recused panel member for a particular vote. Obviously, the replacement will have to come from a different park.<br /><br />There were a number of speakers on this item before it passed, and the council's sympathies seem to remain most strongly with renters. Some residents spoke about the nightmarish conditions that have followed new ownership at parks, their inability to keep up with rent increases, and less than respectful treatment from owners and managers. Councilmembers Laurene Weste and TimBen Boydston were among the most insistent on seeing that seniors would not be forced out of their homes by increases in rents. It was at this point in the meeting that Boydston informed park owners who forced out seniors via rapid rent increases that "there is a special place in Hell for you." The statement ended with a steely glare from Boydston into the beyond and surprised but mostly supportive utterances from the audience.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b><br /></b><b>No San for You</b><br /><br />Committee appointments are an important opportunity for the mayor to exert his/her limited power through recommendations of who should serve on which committee. Before Mayor Kellar read his adjustments to committees, a few speakers had some recommendations of their own. Al Ferdman asked that lobbyists not serve on committees. This was in reference to Arthur Sohikian, the man who lobbied to erect massive digital billboards along Santa Clarita's freeways, who has long represented Santa Clarita on the North County Transportation Coalition. Sohikian is the only non-councilmember to serve on a committee. Steve Petzold and a few others recommended that Councilmember TimBen Boydston serve on the sanitation district. Petzold said that Boydston is among the best-informed on sanitation-related issues, and he felt that perennial sanitation district member Laurene Weste wasn't qualified to serve any longer based on her past performance. "I can't see putting her back on the board after the complete disaster we saw in 2015 with deep-well injection," said Petzold.<br /><br />After public comments, Kellar read his list. Everyone for 10 or 11 committees (either as a member or an alternate), which is a more even distribution than we've seen in the past. However, Boydston was only named as an alternate to Kellar and Weste on the sanitation district. He asked whether Weste was a sanitation district ratepayer. "For my rentals," she replied. He said being a ratepayer can be helpful in getting action, but he didn't push it further. There was also some discussion about the cost-efficacy of having sanitation meetings in Whittier or in Santa Clarita, and Weste restated her expertise and efficacy regarding the chloride disposal issue. She felt proud that they had reduced chloride removal costs by a projected $400M. In the end, the list was approved. Councilmember McLean, who has jealously guarded her committees in the past, only gave a little mumble instead of a strong yes on the item. Though she didn't address it in comments, perhaps she missed out on some wanted appointments.<br /><br />During the closing round of public comments, Al Ferdman suggested that the council needed to be more technologically up to date with the ability to show written materials on-screen and to use teleconferences to save money on traveling to meetings. Stacy Fortner spoke about the council's plan to discuss the recent CLWA proposal. "There is some backroom, shady business going on" said Fortner. She did not deign to go into too many specifics, but she felt there was ample cause to carefully examine the issue. The meeting ended at 9:18.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/Cucvgx9V_Ls" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com1http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/01/rent-landfill-gas-sewage-ends-are-near.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-33749321692450813692016-01-13T11:21:00.001-08:002016-01-13T11:55:42.555-08:00The Sloppy Raise <a data-mce-href="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WesteMoves.png" href="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WesteMoves.png" rel="attachment wp-att-320"><img alt="WesteMoves" class="wp-image-320 aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WesteMoves-300x220.png" height="316" src="http://sclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WesteMoves-300x220.png" width="431" /></a><br /><br />Tonight's meeting was brief, but not brief enough to have spared several councilmembers from awkwardness. Councilmember Boydston generously praised the Canyon High School Theater Group's recent success in competition, but none of its members showed up for their certificates. Councilmember McLean had to ask City Manager Ken Striplin for a definition of "contract city." And Councilmember Weste and Mayor Kellar took quite a while to grasp the nature of the councilmember pay raise they were voting on. Even with all the bumbling, the council managed to approve a raise for next year in a 3-2 vote, reversing a decision they had made mere months ago. Things are off to an auspicious start for 2016.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b><br /></b><b>Panel Me This</b><br /><br />"Everybody's not home for the State of the Union--that's obvious," observed Mayor Bob Kellar as he opened the meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta then delivered the invocation, a freeform prayer of sorts: "May our words and our deeds be pleasing." Both Kellar and Acosta emphasized titles when referring to one another, helping December's transitions to sink in.<br /><br />While Canyon High's drama students were dramatically absent for their recognition, Saugus High's phenomenally successful cross country team members came to the meeting to be recognized as CIF champions. They've spent an unprecedented 10 years finishing in the top three.<br /><br />Public participation followed. R.J. Kelly requested that the cross valley connector be named "Santa Clarita Veterans' Highway" (or similar) in honor of the thousands of veterans living in the SCV. He pointed out that everyone on the council had served in the armed forces or had a family member serve. Kellar followed the remarks by asking whether fellow councilmembers would support agendizing the item, and they agreed.<br /><br />A number of speakers addressed mobile home park rent and appeals when they came to the podium. The most compelling comments came from Dave Boizelle, a resident of Greenbrier Mobile Home Park. He explained that he is filing an appeal against his park's rent increase. The appeal will go before a panel which consists of two representatives for park owners, two for renters, and one neutral arbiter. Unfortunately, one of the renters on the panel is also from Greenbrier, and she will have to recuse herself from voting on the appeal. Boizelle believed this doomed his appeal, as park owners wouldn't vote against their self-interests. That would mean at best a 2-2 vote, and ties aren't enough for an appeal to be ratified. To highlight his point that park owners wouldn't be impartial, he read a statement from Dowdall Law Offices, which represents Santa Clarita's mobile home park owners: "This form of panel is not impartial but evenly unbalanced...two partisans cancel each other out." It seemed clear that a means of substituting owner/resident representation in cases of recusal was necessary.<br /><br />However, City Manager Ken Striplin seemed to think that the system was working fine. After public participation concluded, Striplin said, "I understand the concerns that the speaker spoke of, but I can also tell you that, historically, that has just not played out...In the appeals that we've seen, we have not seen the decision of the panel come down to party lines, so to speak." This conclusion seemed utterly at odds with the structure of the panel, the forced recusal of the Greenbrier resident, and the statement from the park owners' attorney, but Striplin assured the council that despite recusals in the past, the panel had operated fairly and effectively.<br /><br />Councilmembers McLean and Weste were not satisfied with Striplin's assurances. They made a point of asking whether they could do something to address the potential for unbalanced decisions, and City Attorney Joe Montes explained that the ordinance would have to be amended. Weste wanted to "find a way for there to always be an alternate." The council supported discussing potential amendments at a future meeting. Striplin added that there have been discussions about changing some senior home designations to family spaces, and the council also wanted to discuss that sooner rather than later. <br /><br />Other remarks from Striplin and the council included support for L.A. County Sheriff's Department. Al Ferdman had expressed some misgivings about the station moving west of Santa Clarita and about the lack of a station in the east valley, and the city manager assured him that current discussions were aimed at improving presence rather than decreasing it. Mayor Kellar echoed Striplin's support, contending that Santa Clarita gets access to a lot of big department resources at a cost-effective rate through its contract. He seemed to be heading off any calls of "let's start our own police department!" at the pass.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b><br /></b><b>Avoiding Larry</b><br /><br />The consent calendar came and went without much discussion and without speakers. Most of the items dealt with bookkeeping matters like approving tract maps and landscape contracts. One item gave up to $130,000 to Southern California Edison to develop plans for "undergrounding" utilities along Soledad Canyon Road, which will make for a more pleasing skyline. All items passed with the recommended actions.<br /><br />One of the votes went 4-0 instead of 5-0, however, because Kellar recused himself. The item was a parcel map approval involving Spirit Properties, and Kellar explained that he wouldn't vote because he had had "a business transaction in the past" with Spirit's Larry Rasmussen. Of course, Kellar hasn't always been so meticulous in avoiding votes that affect his pal. As Mike&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.santaclarita.com/blog/view.php?blog_entry_id=31048" href="http://www.santaclarita.com/blog/view.php?blog_entry_id=31048" target="_blank">Devlin wrote in 2014</a>, "Kellar voted 'yes' to pay Larry Rasmussen $1.1 million for the future billboard property." That was quite a long time ago, of course, but the question of when to recuse oneself is always popping up in a valley as small and connected as Santa Clarita.<br /><br data-mce-bogus="1" /><b><br /></b><b>Sloppy Vote</b><br /><br />After approving a 3% increase in fire district developer fees (this puts Santa Clarita in line with the rate for unincorporated LA County), it was time to discuss councilmember compensation. Didn't that just happen a few months ago?, the attentive reader asks. Yes, it did. Tonight was a revisitation of last year's vote 3-2 against giving the City Council a raise. Recall that the council always votes on raises that will take place after elections.<br /><br />Discussion began with Cam Noltemeyer making several points about how the council was already adequately compensated, especially if benefits were considered. She then pointed out that councilmembers receive different benefits (in line with city staff benefits when elected), but she believed, "Every single councilman should get the same pay. The same pay. And let's start being open with the public because you definitely are not." Noltemeyer meant that Boydston should be compensated as well as Kellar, McLean, and Weste, but she even extended her statement to include Mayor Pro Tem Acosta, who is also getting lower benefits since he came on so recently. "And Acosta too, I guess, reluctantly," she conceded.<br /><br />Mayor Kellar asked if any of the councilmembers wished to discuss the matter. Councilmember McLean started with a question based on the use of the term "contract city" in earlier comments from this evening. She asked, "I was just wondering if you can explain what it means that we're a contract city?" City Manager Ken Striplin then explained that it meant that Santa Clarita contracts with LA for services like fire. "So it's providing for those types of services specifically and not giving contracts on individuals projects?" McLean queried. With that concept clarified, Kellar again sought action on the item.<br /><br />Staff normally supplies a recommended action, but on the pay raises, all that was written was, "Provide direction to staff regarding Councilmember salary." This led to confusion.<br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>Weste</strong>: "I'd like to move the recommendation for the increase of the council compensation."<br /><strong>Kellar</strong>: "I have a motion...is that the 5%?"<br /><strong>Weste</strong>: "If the council's willing, yes."<br /><strong>Kellar</strong>: "Do we have a second?"<br /><strong>Acosta</strong>: "I'll second it."<br /><strong>McLean,</strong> <em>over Acosta</em>: "Wh...OK, I was going to say if you don't I will but you did, so..."<br /><strong>Boydston, </strong><em>over Kellar</em>: "Discussion! Yes, there will be discussion...I thought this was settled three months ago!"<br /><br />Boydston contended that Councilmember Weste's motion had been improper, as she had moved the staff recommendation, which was only to provide direction--there were no specifics much less a recommended increase. Boydston's speech soon veered into into grandstanding. He said that council pay had increased roughly twice as rapidly as the rate of inflation, and that seniors weren't seeing any meaningful, comparable increase in social security benefits. He asked why the vote had to be brought up again--had their workload increased dramatically in the past few months?<br /><br />Boydston has had a strained relationship with some staff and fellow councilmembers over compensation in the past. He once&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.hometownstation.com/santa-clarita-news/santa-clarita-denies-timben-boydstons-claim-on-health-benefits-38955" href="http://www.hometownstation.com/santa-clarita-news/santa-clarita-denies-timben-boydstons-claim-on-health-benefits-38955" target="_blank">filed a claim</a>&nbsp;against the City for about $10,000--the discrepancy in benefits between new and old councilmembers once a two-tier health care system had been adopted. Boydston contended that it wasn't about more money but about paying everyone the same to do the same job. He was unsuccessful. At the time, he had suggested being OK with everyone taking the lesser benefits as well so long as everyone got the same deal. Boydston used the tactic of less is more again tonight, suggesting that the council actually vote to cut its compensation by 10% and give the funds to senior care.<br /><br />Though Boydston spoke a lot, the rest of the council was silently clamoring to get to the vote without engaging in the merits of a raise. Weste and Kellar showed that they lacked a rudimentary understanding of the item, since Weste thought they could only do a 5% raise (not 5% per year) and Kellar thought it only applied to one year and that's why Weste had said 5% (it applied to two). When asking for clarity from Dante Acosta, who had seconded the motion:<br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>Acosta:</strong> "I believe it was 5% per year"<br /><strong>Kellar:</strong> "That was your interpretation, that it was 5% per year for a total of 10?"<br /><strong>Acosta:</strong><em> N</em><i>ods, mumbles something</i><br /><br />Weste's recommendation and stated understanding had been 5% total, so how Acosta came to this interpretation is not clear. Perhaps his earlier prayer had granted him greater clarity than that afforded me or&nbsp;<i>The Signal</i>'s&nbsp;Luke Money, who tweeted "Unclear on whether the #SCCouncil approved a 5% total pay increase or for 10% (5% for two years). Will check as soon as meeting ends." In any case, the vote took place and &nbsp;went 3-2, with those running for reelection this year voting against the raise (Boydston, Kellar), and those not running for reelection voting for it. And even though it's for 10% total (Money got clarification from the city clerk), that is a tiny amount relative to the budget, and it marks the first time councilmembers will receive over $2000 a month.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/jIDhhpUg8mU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com0http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-sloppy-raise.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-21508705610237819872015-12-09T09:54:00.003-08:002015-12-09T09:54:51.270-08:00Acosta Ascendant For Toeing the Line<div>At tonight's Santa Clarita City Council meeting, Councilmember TimBen Boydston was passed over yet again for the position of mayor pro tempore. The title instead went to Dante Acosta, who has served less than half as long as Boydston. The title of mayor went to Bob Kellar; it's now his fourth time. Fittingly, there was quite a production before Boydston's mayoral aspirations exited stage right. Well over 20 people spoke or submitted cards in favor of Boydston for the position of mayor pro tem while scarcely anyone even mentioned Kellar or Acosta. Yet the council was not swayed by supportive public testimony and chose to keep Boydston from claiming the title. Tonight probably didn't mark the "death of democracy" as one rather dramatic speaker put it, but it was a clear indication that the council sees being mayor as a privilege to be earned rather than a duty to be equitably shared. Let's get to recapping.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Marsha, the&nbsp;Ubiquitous</b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The special reorganization meeting began at 5 o'clock. Outgoing Mayor Marsha McLean welcomed everyone with a performance by the Valencia High School choir. The students were dressed up in full Christmas caroling attire and sang "Here We Come A-caroling" followed by "Throw the Yule Log on, Uncle John." The latter was a first for me, and hopefully a last. Once the choir had finished, they made straight for the door, but Mayor McLean was quite insistent on getting a photo first.</div><div><br /></div><div>McLean warned the audience that her final comments as mayor would be lengthy because, "This is the last time that I'm going to be a mayor...for this year, anyways." McLean spoke about her proudest accomplishments, which included organizing a coalition of northern LA County communities to fight against potential negative impacts of high-speed rail. She was also excited to have convinced the U.S. Postal Service to bring an office back to Newhall. During her term, Santa Clarita hosted one of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti's quarterly mayor meetings as well. Trains, mail, and getting noticed by LA: the year that was.<br /><br />Next, McLean read a much longer list of accomplishments to which she was less singly/directly connected. This included concerts in the park, plans for the new senior center, adding the city's 32nd park, fighting the drought via landscaping changes, and offering mental health services and outreach. To conclude, McLean went off-script and thanked her husband for putting up with her many, time-consuming duties as mayor. She said she was looking forward to relaxing her demanding schedule for a while, at least. McLean was tickled to receive a charm bracelet as a memento. I couldn't see all the charms, but she mentioned that there was a little Eiffel Tower.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>A procession of officials or their representatives came forward next. They all offered their appreciation for the work of Mayor McLean over the past year. First up was Scott Wilk. He said that he had prepared a "fabulous" speech about McLean's accomplishments, but she had already gone over most of them. McLean interrupted, "You can say whatever nice things you wish." The audience laughed. His main compliment was that Marsha McLean was "ubiquitous", showing up to represent Santa Clarita at many, many events. He mentioned her fight against being railroaded by high-speed rail. He seemed to think the advocacy was nice, but nice turned to patronizing when he made it clear that he thought he was doing the real work: "You can do whatever you want but we are gonna kill it." The rest of Wilk's remarks mostly involved Wilk himself, as usual.</div><div><br /></div><div>Though Wilk had set a low bar for speeches, few of the other speakers surpassed it. A young rep for Congressman Steve Knight basically just said "thanks" a lot. The Chamber of Commerce's Terri Crain said that her personal connection to McLean stemmed from the fact that McLean was mayor when she arrived in town, so Crain just always assumes that McLean is is still mayor. Crain laughed generously at her own little joke. Other speeches, letters, and the like came from the Castaic Lake Water Agency, College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation, the office of Supervisor Mike Antonovich, and various other persons/institutions.<br /><br /><b>Nominations, Pleas, Decisions</b></div><div><br /></div><div>McLean's last duty was handing the gavel to the city clerk, who then asked for nominations for mayor. Boydston tried to nominate Bob Kellar first, but Councilmember Laurene Weste was quite insistent on having the honor. Kevin Tonoian was opening nominations and Weste spoke over him, saying, "Move Bob Kellar!" while Boydston more calmly began, "I would like to move..." An uncharacteristically aggressive Weste cut off Boydston, saying, "I already did it." Boydston countered, "I have the floor, m'am," and Weste came back with, "I moved first." Mayor McLean snuck in, "And I seconded!" Kellar took the title. He posed for a picture and everyone clapped, but the fourth time around just isn't quite as magical as the first time, or the second time, or the third.<br /><br />Mayor Kellar made some remarks about what's in store for the city in 2016, and he then opened the special meeting to public participation--there were 18 speaker cards. While several speakers were congratulatory to Kellar as they came forward, no one came forward expressly for the purpose of congratulations. All were there to advocate for Councilmember TimBen Boydston to be the next mayor pro tem. (Former mayor Carl Boyer didn't go as far as a recommendation, but he did advocate reinstating a formal rotation of who got to be mayor.) The speeches kicked off with TimBen's wife, Ingrid Boydston. She was brief but poignant, asking that the council take three pieces of advice when making its decision. The first was from the Bible (treat people the way you want to be treated), the second from kindergarten (play fair), and the third from politics (respect the voter). It was a solid opening, and a steady stream of pro-Boydston speakers followed. Most argued that Boydston was competent and that the mayoral position was supposed to rotate fairly. He had been voted in, so he deserved a chance to serve as mayor.<br /><br />Steve Petzold, the main man behind tonight's show of support, gave the most passionate speech. Recalling last year, when Petzold and Patti Sulpizio had advocated for Boydston to be mayor pro tem, only to be ignored by the council, he said, "I considered that to be an insult." Petzold agreed with <i>The Signal</i>&nbsp;editorial board, which he said had a "blinding flash of the obvious" recently when it wrote: "To bypass TimBen suggests the council has an inner circle wielding power, a situation not justified in the city's constitution."<br /><br />Former Santa Clarita Mayor Carl Boyer spoke about his support for a formal rotation. "I was offered by Mr. McKeon to be the first mayor and I gave that up because I believed that the principle of rotation was a basic keystone of good government, so we rotated according to the number of votes that each of us got." He said he even supported Jill Klajic as mayor even though he thought she wouldn't be good at it. He sincerely believed in the merits of a strict mayoral rotation where everyone gets a chance "so the people can be heard."<br /><br />"I don't know if there's ever been so much attention to selection of mayor pro tem" said Patti Sulpizo, the second-to-last speaker. She said the news coverage, social media discussions, and show of support tonight were essentially unprecedented. And she was correct.<br /><br />After public comments came to an end, Bob Kellar said he would entertain a motion for mayor. There was a long, anxiously silent pause of fully ten seconds before Councilmember Weste spoke up and said, "Dante Acosta." Mayor McLean let out a far from emphatic "I'll second." Before a vote, Boydston asked for discussion. Since everyone had predicted that it would be Acosta instead of Boydston for mayor pro tem, Boydston didn't seem surprised and spoke calmly. He simply asked that the councilmembers explain their decision because so many speakers had presciently requested that they do so. He said "Give reason for the vote...that was a request that I wanted to make of each councilperson...we have thick skins or we would not be here." Enthusiastic applause followed; people wanted to know the reason Boydston had been overlooked. Perhaps more accurately, people wanted the other councilmembers to go on record saying their reasons.<br /><br />Only Mayor Kellar replied. He was passionate and unapologetic about his decision, which was clearly a vote against Boydston rather than a vote for Acosta, who wasn't even mentioned. (Acosta sat by quietly throughout the vast majority of the special meeting--one of the reasons he got the title of mayor pro tem.) Kellar's words weren't particularly coherent, as he often began a statement only to end it mid-thought, as if there were certain things he wanted to say but stopped short of saying. For example, he began, "There's a lot of elected people in this room..." but didn't succinctly finish the thought. The implication, of course, was obvious--there were political pressures and considerations even though the mayoral title is supposed to be mostly ceremonial. Kellar said that decisions should be made based on "information and experience and <i>listening</i>," and that they all needed to be "working together in a responsible matter." Kellar added that Boydston kept bringing up issues where he'd lost the vote, advising Boydston, "When you're on the minority side you simply leave it alone."&nbsp;Kellar felt Boydston acted as if he were "above it all...we write a separate book for this one!" Boydston, in short, did not toe the line.<br /><br />Cake followed.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Council Meeting</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Councilmember Laurene Weste delivered the invocation to open the city council meeting that followed the special reorganization meeting. Weste, who had not uttered one word of explanation for her decisions over the previous hour, was apparently been saving her speaking voice for less controversial subjects. She fondly remember the departed Duane Harte and asked that people think about America's veterans.<br /><br />During public participation, a number of residents of Sierra Park (a senior mobile home park) came up to speak about the change in ownership/management they've been dealing with. One woman who lives at the park worked for the new company following the takeover. However, she resigned after just a few days because she felt the company wasn't acting in accordance with the law and that residents were suffering as a result. Several elderly residents came forward and said that they had lost rent control through deceptive contracts or business practices and that no maintenance of the grounds had taken place. One speaker predicted "a new class of homeless seniors."<br /><br />Other speakers included Lynne Plambeck, who asked that a restoration of Bouquet Canyon creek be named to honor the Savaikie Family. Sandra Cattell pointed out the need for more charging stations for electric cars. She suggested that car dealerships which sell electric vehicles could each pay for a station, as has happened in other cities. Al Ferdman brought up his most recent criticism of the plan to subsidize a Laemmle Theatre in Old Town Newhall. Ferdman said that recently released figures reveal that half of the theater's screens would only have 45 seats, which hardly seemed to justify a $14M subsidy/incentive to build.<br /><br /></div><div>City Manager Ken Striplin was first to reply. He said that the mobile home park complaints were news to him but promised quick outreach. Striplin wasn't entirely clear about the extent of the city's jurisdiction over the park (it seemed limited), but he said they could at least investigate tree maintenance and a few other issues that had been brought up. He had the council's support on this. Councilmember Weste said that the city needed to contact the California Mobilehome Ombudsman: "It's time." Kellar asked for Striplin to clarify the $14M pricetag for Laemmle. Striplin said that $10M of the $14M would go to building a parking structure, which Kellar felt defeated Ferdman's argument that the city was lavishly subsidizing the company. (Ferdman would later respond that the parking lot was being built immediately next to the theater and was sized to accommodate the seating needs of the theater, so it still counted as a subsidy.)<br /><br />The items on the consent calendar were fairly routine. The legislative platform for the new year was approved (i.e., political items where the city will take a stand only to be ignored by Sacramento) and dial-a-ride vehicles were purchased. Cam Noltemeyer spoke about item 9, which was the second reading of an update to development codes. There was language about marijuana sales, and she asked whether medical marijuana shops could do business in Santa Clarita. City Attorney Joe Montes said the answer was no. <br /><br />The final bit of business was considering FY 2015-16 mid-year budget adjustments. General fund revenue was increased $3.4M in light of higher than expected tax revenue and other income. Expenditures included $120,000 to continue CEMEX opposition efforts (so much for victory, eh?) and some changes to staffing, such as three graffiti worker positions and a film permit specialist position. The changes were accepted by the council. &nbsp;<br /><br />During the second round of public participation, several Boydston supporters had a chance to provide their immediate feedback on the council's snubbing on Boydston. Cam Noltemeyer said that tonight, we had seen "the most desperate" (the struggling senior mobile home park residents) and "the most arrogant" (4/5 of the council). Patti Suplizio asked about all the people who Bob Kellar had said shared his concerns about Boydston. "Where are they?" she asked, "Was there an unscheduled secret meeting that I missed? How do we get your ear?" Sulpizio viewed public comments as all but worthless, since minds have usually already been made up. Andrew Taban offered his "condolences" to the city over "the death of democracy tonight." He felt "surprised and hurt and disappointed."<br /><br /></div><div>Steve Petzold, however, took Boydston to task for suggesting that there were some unscrupulous real estate agents taking advantage of seniors (Boydston had suggested this during remarks about senior mobile home housing). Petzold said the realtors he knows are very careful and forthcoming with disclosures and notifications. Boydston clarified his remarks in response.<br /><br />One final exchange illustrated why things are the way they are for the council. Some CSUN graduate students spoke about Santa Clarita's homeless population, which they have come to know through their work and through Single Mothers Outreach. In response to this and the senior housing concerns, Boydston suggested forming a city committee on homelessness. Boydston asked if anyone else shared his concerns and would support agendizing his idea. Kellar was upset by what he thought was an implication that the city hasn't done enough to address homelessness. He thought Boydston was overly influenced by public sentiments, often having knee-jerk reactions. He held up the stack of comment cards and said that if Boydston had his way, decisions would be made simply by counting them up, leading to a "train wreck." Dante Acosta tried make peace. He said that Boydston's phrasing had implied that anyone against forming a new committee wasn't interested in helping the homeless, when they really were. Acosta argued that discussion with staff was a better first step than forming a new committee. In short, Boydston wanted to make noise and start a campaign, Kellar was OK with the status quo, and Acosta wanted to play nice. Thus their respective titles. The meeting ended, and that's it for recaps until 2016.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/mHOSQzikuSA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com0http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/12/acosta-ascendant-for-toeing-line.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-38060579802296871222015-11-25T13:47:00.000-08:002015-11-25T13:47:08.983-08:00The One With McRib GirlTonight's meeting of Santa Clarita City Council will forever be known as "The One With McRib Girl." As you have likely already learned via Twitter, Facebook, or even KFI (it's been mentioned all morning), a young woman named <a href="https://www.facebook.com/xanthepajarillo/" target="_blank">Xanthe Pajarillo</a> came forward during public participation to ask for the council's assistance in bringing the McDonald's McRib sandwich back to Santa Clarita. The speech was well-conceived, hilarious, and perhaps a weird way to promote her new film, <i>Robbie</i>...or at least her brand. In any case, she picked the right night, as little else of note happened. Duane Harte was fondly remembered, some development code details were changed, and Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar defended himself for being named on a hit mailer against Lynne Plambeck. But mostly, it was McRib. Well, MuhKrib.<br /><br /><b>Unexpected Babies</b><br /><br />"Here in America, we look with sadness across the waters," began Councilmember TimBen Boydston. His invocation was a mix of grief over the recent terror attacks in France and solemn thanksgiving as he read from, fittingly, Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation.<br /><br />The sole recognition at tonight's meeting went to a Sheriff's Deputy who helped with an emergency roadside birth. Both Mayor McLean and I were disappointed in the copy that she had been provided with to introduce Deputy Bertola. I was upset that it left out the best part--the delivery happened at a car wash. McLean quibbled after she read a description that it was "an unexpected baby." She broke script to disagree with the script, saying, "The baby, probably, was expected..." garnering laughs from the audience. Perhaps she's right, or perhaps she just needs to watch more of TLC's <i>I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant.</i> In any case, the deputy was applauded for his quick action and assistance with the delivery.<br /><br /><b>A Strip Club McRib Combo</b><br /><br />Public participation usually involves the same few people week in and week out. When you hear a new name, odds are that they've only come to talk about some new traffic problem in their neighborhood. You can imagine my delight, then, when a man in dramatic makeup and a cowboy hat came forward to ask that strip clubs to be welcomed by Santa Clarita. He said the council could help end the stigma against this line of work while simultaneously boosting the economy.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the man's performance couldn't hold a candle to the brilliance of Xanthe Pajarillo, who spoke after him. She began by asking, with considerable gravity, for an interpreter so as not to exclude the Spanish-speaking community from hearing her comments. Pajarillo then explained the plight of the McDonald's McRib, which she pronounced as MuhkDonald's MuhKrib. The seasonal sandwich is no longer offered nationwide, and she has been having no luck securing one in Santa Clarita. Pajarillo explained that the McRib not only feeds her body but also her soul; a family Thanksgiving tradition is sharing MuhKribs and MuhkNuggets. Without them, this year will be like "Christmas without snow." Xanthe Pajarillo means, roughly, "yellow bird" in Greek/Spanish. And rarely has their been a canary like Pajarillo in the council chambers, singing a song all her own so loud, so clear, so strong. Not once did she break character, and the piece was as well-written as it was well-delivered. Be certain you <a href="http://sclarita.com/2015/11/24/watch-this-womans-inspired-plea-for-mcribs-in-scv/" target="_blank">watch it here</a>.<br /><br />Other speakers included Elaine Ballace, who spoke with more reserve than usual about mobile home park rent increases. Since park renters escaped a big automatic rent hike because of a newly adopted policy, park owners have been trying to make up the difference by passing through capital improvement costs. Ballace said that this has been done in legally questionable ways, and she asked for the council's help in addressing mobile home rent concerns. She acknowledged that most of the council members (everyone but Kellar) had probably acted in good-faith when trying to lower automatic rent increases, but she said help was needed in countering unintended consequences.<br /><br />Stacy Fortner used her time at the podium to address traffic issues at one of Einstein Academy's schools. She supported the school's use of a "valet line" policy for pick-ups, but&nbsp; she pointed out that people who abruptly leave the line or try to force their way in can increase the risk of vehicular collisions. The sheer number of vehicles also causes backups and other problems near Wiley Canyon and Old Orchard. Fortner has had several close calls herself. She had asked for increased traffic enforcement but was told that the Sheriff's Department avoids patrolling the Einstein Academy crowd as a matter of policy. Fortner, who has not had the coziest of relationships with Einstein, its staff, or its parents, was very civil with most of her comments. However, she couldn't resist a subtle remark about the ill-fated school's inability to fix traffic (and other) problems: "I think that they are just very busy dealing with office issues."&nbsp; <br /><br />Steve Petzold appealed to the council to select TimBen Boydston to be Mayor Pro Tem when the time comes next month. There was an unofficial rotation in which Bob Kellar skipped over TimBen Boydston to become the current mayor pro tempore. Kellar has had mixed feelings about the rotation in the past. He was skipped over once and wasn't pleased by it, but now he's done the skipping and made no apologies for it. Petzold highlighted Boydston's long service at council, his qualifications, and the fact that the more senior members of council have all had multiple opportunities to be mayor. Petzold ended by wishing everyone a "Merry Thanksgiving." Before he walked away, he looked to the heavens and said, "Go Navy!" for the recently departed Duane Harte.<br /><br /><b>The Harte of Santa Clarita</b><br /><br />Duane Harte's recent and sudden death was on the mind of all councilmembers during their comments. Kellar played a video in remembrance of Harte and said he couldn't do justice to Harte's extensive involvement in all aspects of SCV life: "Duane Harte was the heart of Santa Clarita." Councilmembers Laurene Weste and TimBen Boydston were audibly emotional as they discussed his passing. Weste summarized the man by saying, "Duane was kind of our Jimmy Stewart." Councilmember Dante Acosta mentioned that he had been speaking with Harte at the community tree-lighting event just before Harte's death, rendering the loss all the more immediate and difficult. Mayor McLean agreed, saying, "It seems impossible that he's not here."&nbsp; &nbsp;<b> </b>&nbsp; <br /><br />The mourning was tempered by promises of festive holiday events on the community calendar. Boydston apologized for his scruffy beard, explaining that he'll soon be playing the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge in a production of <i>A Christmas Carol</i>. Bob Kellar joked that Boydston was a natural for the role. A smiling Boydston asked "Which one?"--the miserly Scrooge at the start of the story or the generous, amiable Scrooge at the end. Kellar answered laughingly with, "I'm gonna let that one go."&nbsp; <br /><br /><br />Lastly, Bob Kellar defended himself against remarks leveled at the previous council meeting. Recall that Lynne Plambeck came forward and held up a hit mailer that went out before the Newhall Water District elections. It was full of what Plambeck called lies and personal attacks. She was appalled that Kellar's name was on it. Kellar had responded by saying that he had "no knowledge" of the mailer. After the meeting, it seems Plambeck sent Kellar a copy of the mailer with his name on it. At tonight's meeting, Kellar responded. He said that "she [Plambeck] attacked me," noting that he had not generated the content about Plambeck himself. Kellar's attempt to play the victim was ineffectual, and not just because he seemed unusually sensitive and, for lack of a better term, butthurt. He implied that he should be able to put his name behind a group without being called out on the nature of that group's election materials. As Kellar ought to know from his years in government, that's not how things work.&nbsp;<br /><br /><b>Consent Calendar</b><br /><br />The consent calendar was short and mostly routine. One item recommended acquisition of two automatic license plate readers to be used by the Sheriff's Deparment. There was also a letter supporting LA's bid for the 2024 Olympics, and a 50 mph speed limit was set for a stretch of Golden Valley Road. Councilmember Boydston asked about an item relating to environmental impacts along the Santa Clara River watershed, but it didn't amount to much more than acknowledging environmental changes and remedies to affect the future of the river. The entire calendar was approved with the recommended actions and without further discussion.<br /><br />The final item on the agenda was accepting some amendments to Santa Clarita's Unified Development Code. This helped keep Santa Clarita in line with policies set by the State of California. Co-location of utility towers and communications antennas will be easier, building restrictions on ridgelines will be slightly modified, and each home address will now be limited to a single business rather than many. Dennis Conn came up to speak on the item. His remarks were as wide-ranging and challenging to follow as usual. Earlier in the evening he had covered Romans, taxes on cruise ships, and the US economy. On this item, he talked about hotels, color coordination (I think he may have been saying co-location but it sounded like color coordination), and fishing. The meeting ended at 7:23. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.&nbsp; <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/S-yUeewrn5U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com3http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-one-with-mcrib-girl.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-5173861149763230612015-10-29T15:04:00.000-07:002015-10-29T15:04:00.777-07:00Self-denial and Curious RequestsSay what you will about the Santa Clarita City Council, but its members aren't getting rich--they make in a year what the city manager makes in a month. And at this evening's meeting, they nobly denied themselves a raise when given the opportunity. So who are we to deny them their bickering? Tonight, the disagreements centered on the future of Old Town Newhall, the right policy for solar power, and whether homeowners ever really need big trashcans. It's recapping time.<br /><br /><b>Land of the freeEE<i>EE</i>!</b> <br /><br />Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar's invocation was a rousing call to the ballot box. He encouraged residents to make an informed vote this November, and he reminded them that men and women have died to protect our voting rights. Kellar may have been preaching to the choir--I don't think too many non-voters watch council meetings--but it's always good to be reminded.<br /><br />"Now we get to go to a very lovely part of the meeting," said Mayor McLean, ushering in a diverse (i.e, long) procession of presentations. Sergeant Danial Dantice was applauded for his outreach to Santa Clarita's homeless population. The diminutive Dantice has helped connect homeless people with local resources and has been both compassionate and successful. Next, October was designated as a month for domestic violence prevention and breast cancer awareness. The Santa Clarita Domestic Violence Center, Circle of Hope, and Soroptimists came up to speak briefly, the latter group giving a $10,000 check to Circle of Hope.<br /><br />The Master's College Chorale was then invited up for a performance. They began with "Tap-tap," Sidney Guillaume's piece about Haitian public transportation. Yes, really. According to its composer's website, the song "is inspired by the beautifully colored buses and taxis in Haiti...a metaphor encouraging people to 'jump on the bus' and not let opportunities pass them by." The group then transitioned to singing the national anthem--of the United States, not Haiti. The singers surrounded the audience during their performance, and they really reached for the high note on "land of the freeEE<i>EE</i>." The chorale was warmly applauded and praised for its interesting performance. This seemed like a natural finale for the City Hall presentations, but it was not. A representative of the LA Economic Development Corporation came forward to recognize Santa Clarita for being a finalist (i.e., not the winner) of LA's most business friendly large city award. Santa Clarita's many business-friendly programs and policies were praised.<br /><br /><b>Slow Your Road</b><br /><br />A new issue emerged during tonight's public participation. Or, more accurately, a new version of an age-old issue emerged. Residents of Dorothy Street recently became connected to Golden Valley courtesy of the Five Knolls project. This has turned a quiet residential street into a busy thoroughfare. As one man put it, the street is now "an unregulated speedway." Residents explained that it's hard for them to even back out of their driveways. One woman said that she can't allow her grandchildren to play in the front yard any more, and she added that the dangerously high speeds of motorists force her to act as a human shield as she helps her disabled daughter to cross the street.<br /><br />Elaine Ballace brought us the latest developments on mobile home rent increases. The unanticipated jumps in rents have residents scrambling for help and appeals, and she felt that the City has been helping park owners more than renters. "The City is in bed with the greedy landowners," she contended. Ballace said it's fine for Santa Clarita to get awards for being business friendly, but she wondered whether they were equally friendly to mobile home park residents.<br /><br />With an oddly apologetic tone, Santa Clarita Soccer Center owner Scott Schauer said that he was gradually moving forward with the process of relocating his facility. It has operated legally for years, but new residents in the area have continued to complain about the noise. Rick Bianchi of The New Home Company (Villa Metro Developer) said he supported the decision to move. This was not too surprising because it means his company won't have to build a giant, ugly, and expensive sound wall between the soccer field and homes. Anyone who's been to Villa Metro knows that it's surrounded by enough giant, ugly walls already. Bianchi revealed that, "We had to make adjustments to sales prices because of this business," and he defended their disclosures of the soccer center's presence to prospective buyers. So it seems that people who bought homes next to the center paid a lower price for the bother, and now they've almost succeeded in driving said bother out of the neighborhood.<br /><br /><b>Too Late to Un-Laemmle?</b><br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin responded only to the comments about Dorothy Street. He said that some money from the Five Knolls development had been set aside for "traffic calming" measures. Once traffic patterns have settled after the opening of other roads in the area, staff will conduct studies and present traffic management options to residents.<br /><br />The councilmembers went around to offer comments next. Councilmember TimBen Boydston had an idea for a project opposite the library in Old Town Newhall. This is the Laemmle spot. It's not officially called that because negotiations to build a Laemmle Theatre still aren't finalized, but that's what four-fifths of the council and over 90% of public speakers have said they want. Boydston had been excluded from these talks previously because of his own theater business. He was able to speak on the topic tonight, however, and he asked if any other councilmembers would agree to agendize a public discussion of the Laemmle proposal and/or of his alternative idea. No one would support him. Councilmember Dante Acosta employed two metaphors to explain his reasoning. He said that the City was dating Laemmle, and that they're moving towards a commitment so it would be inappropriate to look for a new partner now. He also suggested that there was a giant cruise ship sailing towards a common future, and Boydston couldn't expect to change course of the whole ship now that he was on board. Throughout the discussion, Boydston never actually mentioned what his alternative idea was, but since it shall never be, I guess we don't really need to know. <br /><br />The other councilmembers made less contentious comments. Veterans Day events, the State of the City Luncheon, flu shot clinics, and other harbingers of winter were discussed. Mayor McLean thanked staff for helping to arrange a conference in Santa Clarita with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and other mayors. She said they were "impressed." Naturally.<br /><br /><b>Trashed</b><br /><b><br /></b>The items on tonight's consent calender were a humdrum mix of maintenance contracts, recreation projects, and bookkeeping measures. There were a couple of exceptions.<br /><br />An item on waste management franchise agreements upset both Cam Noltemeyer and Mayor McLean, but for different reasons. Noltemeyer used the agreement as an excuse to discuss the City's deafening silence about the proposed Chiquita Canyon Landfill expansion. She asked why they weren't opposing the dump or at least talking about it. Noltemeyer felt that she was always dismissed for being a community activist, so she reminded the council that she was a trash ratepayer as well. Patti Sulpizio echoed Noltemeyer's remarks in a more upbeat style. She said that Chiquita may be outside the city boundaries, but that was also the case for many other issues in which the City had nonetheless involved itself. Tthink Elsmere Canyon, Cemex's mining site, and the proposed high-speed railway, she suggested. "Fight with us, fight for us!" Sulpizio encouraged. &nbsp; <br /><br />Mayor McLean spoke on the same item. She first appeased Noltemeyer by saying, "I don't yell at people...I think community activists are just swell." She then asked City Manager Ken Striplin whether the City had taken a stance on the Chiquita Canyon Landfill EIR. He said that staff had sent a letter, but apparently the council didn't read it because McLean requested to look it over.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KhAS9x3JVa0/VjKW5QNpEiI/AAAAAAAADyA/gtEsATzqCVo/s1600/McLeanActivists.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KhAS9x3JVa0/VjKW5QNpEiI/AAAAAAAADyA/gtEsATzqCVo/s320/McLeanActivists.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Then McLean got back to the item itself, which wasn't about Chiquita so much as it was about temporary bins and roll-off boxes. She was appalled that some very large temporary trash bins would be allowed in residential areas. "How could they possibly have that much solid waste?" McLean demanded to know of staff. Explanations were offered. Sometimes a lot gets thrown away in a big move, or after a death, or after a big party. This was not enough for McLean, who wanted specifics. "Items, items, items, what <i>items</i>?" she wondered. At one point, Ken Striplin actually detailed the sorts of trash one could expect in the wake of a party, such as disposable paper goods.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7Ua-7XGeGAk/VjKW5am4wcI/AAAAAAAADyE/9FTRg1--2ro/s1600/StriplinParty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7Ua-7XGeGAk/VjKW5am4wcI/AAAAAAAADyE/9FTRg1--2ro/s320/StriplinParty.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Mayor McLean remained unsatisfied. "I have a problem with this," she said, contending that most waste is recyclable and that recyclables and garbage shouldn't be mixed in one bin. She called the waste bin contract, which seemed relatively routine, "Completely new and different than what has been provided before."&nbsp; McLean tried to make a case that people could abuse large bins by using them to throw away electronic waste and other items forbidden from the normal trash-stream, but no one stepped up to support her. Most of the council and staff seemed satisfied with the idea that the waste haulers would appropriately sort the waste to find recyclables. "Alright so fine," she said, sensing defeat. In a separate vote on this item alone, only McLean opposed the measure, wanting more time and details.<br /><br />The rest of the consent calendar was approved with the recommended actions. One final item of note was a plan to start preserving all recordings of council meetings indefinitely. "They said we wouldn't live forever, and there you go," smiled TimBen Boydston.<br /><br /><b>Public Hearing</b><br /><b> </b><br /><br />A public hearing to grant Valencia Water Company a franchise inspired a crisis of identity. The franchise agreement was written up as it would be for a private entity, but whether the VWC is private was up for debate. During comments, Lynne Plambeck explained that the Public Utilities Commission had ruled that upon being acquired by a public entity (in this case the Castaic Lake Water Agency), &nbsp;the VWC's private status was no longer valid. Plambeck and Cam Noltemeyer argued that the CLWA has tried to keep VWC private because it benefits from the status and lack of public scrutiny. Beverly Johnson, VWC Vice President and Controller, insisted that Plambeck and Noltemeyer were mistaken. "We are a private corporation," Johnson said. It's not quite as simple as anyone was claiming because there are still suits and appeals in the court system. Public/private status may not be determined to everyone's satisfaction for a long time to come. In any case, tonight's franchise agreement really just kept up business as usual. Water will be bought, provided, and charged for, with about 1% of the rate going to the City.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7G6fEylZjUw/VjKW5d598vI/AAAAAAAADyI/p9MihoGx_eg/s1600/PlambeckVWC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7G6fEylZjUw/VjKW5d598vI/AAAAAAAADyI/p9MihoGx_eg/s400/PlambeckVWC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Before the vote, Councilmember TimBen Boydston and Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar engaged in a pointless argument about whether more water conservation actions could be demanded of Valencia Water Company or CLWA in the franchise agreement. Boydston asked, for example, why more recycled water wasn't used. Kellar wanted to keep the discussion brief and focused, but Boydston said leadership was the business of the council and that a comprehensive discussion was needed to lead the way. In the end, everyone but Boydston agreed to the franchise.<br /><br />Debate over another tricky topic--how residential solar power is paid for--was deferred until next meeting. Mayor McLean made it known that she was frustrated with California's demand for energy conservation while diminishing the financial benefits of home solar power. Boydston and Acosta began to offer some counter-arguments about the cost of the electric utility infrastructure. In any case, a meeting withe SoCal Edison will be held to go over technical details of the changes in store for solar. Ultimately, the City can do little to change decrees from Sacramento, so this will probably prove to be another futile discussion.<br /><br /><b>No Raise For Now</b><br /><br />The City Council is allowed to adjust the compensation of future councils. Since people tend to stay in office for so long, it's basically voting to give yourself a raise--just not technically. The opportunity comes around every two years, and the council could have given itself as much as a 5% raise for both 2015 and 2016, amounting to a 10% raise overall.<br /><br />The only speaker was Cam Noltemeyer, who said no one (except maybe TimBen) deserved a raise. Boydston agreed that they should keep their compensation as is. When Boydston explained himself, it sounded to me like he was gearing up for some back-and-forth, but pushback never materialized. Mayor Pro Tem Kellar seconded his motion, and the majority of the council decided to forego raises for the next two years. McLean, who voted against the 0% raise, had pointed out that they'd only be getting about $200 more a month for being on call 24 hours a day, attending many meetings, and serving in many functions. <br /><br />Councilmember Boydston tried to start a discussion about the disparity in benefits among councilmembers. The longer-seated ones are getting thousands more per year than newer members, like Boydston, for cash-in-lieu of healthcare benefits; this has to do with changes to benefits plans for city staff. However, City Attorney Joe Montes advised Boydston that it was not the right time.<br /><br /><b>Keating Complains Again</b><br /><br />The meeting closed with public participation. Al Ferdman became unusually animated as he spoke out against the council for being unwilling to discuss alternatives to a Laemmle Theatre. By Ferdman's math, it would take 350 years of tax benefits for the Laemmle to cancel out the $14M subsidy the City will likely provide.<br /><br />Lynne Plambeck returned to the podium for some follow-up on water and waste issues. Plambeck asked the City to look into Chiquita Canyon's use of green waste as an "alternative daily cover" for its landfill. She said that the practice is contributing to odor problems, and she was troubled that green waste was being counted as "recycled" when it was really ending up in a landfill.<br /><br />Finally, Villa Metro's most sensitive resident came forward to remind anyone who had forgotten that life in Villa Metro is loud. David Keating felt that progress on the soccer center noise issue amounted to too little to late. He sounded like he was auditioning for the part of plaintiff in a civil suit as he said that his wife had to be hospitalized because of the noise. "My wife has been hospitalized because of the trauma, noise, sleep deprivation, psychological effects... We moved out of our home for six weeks. The new home company didn't disclose the soccer center to us." He claimed that his tremendous amount of trust in The New Home Company and the City of Santa Clarita had been misplaced. In short, it seems that Keating is both extraordinarily sensitive to noise but was extraordinarily oblivious to the presence of a noisy sports facility by the home he bought. The meeting ended with Keating, as yet, unsatisfied.<br /><b> </b><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/EUH7Gf_O-9s" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com2http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/10/self-denial-and-curious-requests.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-76756902562336795062015-10-14T14:24:00.000-07:002015-10-14T14:24:02.120-07:00Longer Princessa, Quieter Villa, Stricter VapingFor my November <a href="http://www.insidescv.com/I+Heart+SCV/Main+Page/I+Heart+SCV/Content/2883" target="_blank">insideSCV column</a>, I wrote about how too many of Santa Clarita's victories don't really feel like winning. Think Cemex, where every apparent triumph hasn't actually been one. Tonight was more of the same. Mobile home park renters recently secured lower annual rent increases, but now park owners are using pass-throughs to get their money in lieu of rent hikes. Villa Metro residents may succeed in driving out the noisy but legally-operating Santa Clarita Soccer Center, but only after demonstrating a hideous lack of self awareness. And vaping has been banned in most places, which would be satisfying had a vaping problem ever really existed. Tonight, many people seemed to get their way, but I'm not sure anybody actually won. <br />&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /><b>Performing Art</b><br /><br />Councilmember Dante Acosta opened the meeting with prayer. (He says "awe-men" rather than "ae-men".) The flag was saluted, the introductory spiel spieled, and the agenda approved. The sole award of recognition for tonight went to ballerina Anatalia Hordov, who was one of only three Americans to have been invited to the Genee International Ballet Competition this fall. She even made it to the finals, the only American to do so. Hordov posed for a photo with Mayor McLean, an accomplished dancer in her own right, and the rest of the council.<br /><br />Arts Commission Chair Patti Rasmussen spoke about arts programs that involve local schools and students. These ranged from a Cowboy Festival-inspired lesson in harmonicas to various art competitions to an artist in residence (for a week) program. Rasmussen said that she and the rest of the commission "anxiously await the findings of our arts master plan." That master plan is being completed by LA-based The Cultural Planning Group. Until then, Claritans remain all but powerless over their own art. <br /><br /><br /><b>Rent Pass-throughs and Villa Metro "Plight"</b><br /><br />After the update on the arts, Mayor McLean began working through a full roster of public participation. She said that if anyone needed translators (some would say she was really after <i>interpreters</i>), their services would be provided. Naturally, this announcement was made only in English, but things would awkwardly work themselves out in both English and Spanish over the course of the meeting.<br /><br />Elaine Ballace spoke first, saying that the IRS and the City of Santa Clarita disagree without giving much in the way of background. It became apparent that she was talking about their apparent disagreement over what costs could be passed through to mobile home park renters. Ballace explained that park owners are now using pass-throughs to get residents to cover costs on everything from office furniture to computers, not just on capital improvements. She said that it was time to challenge these "greedy landowners." Another mobile home park resident agreed that pass-throughs were being used to cover questionable expenses and routine maintenance instead of major improvements. He said that it's retaliation for the recently adopted 0% floor on annual rent increases. Teresa Galvez, speaking with an interpreter, said that management is very difficult to work with at her mobile home park. Her manager doesn't answer questions or respond to complaints, she claimed, and it made for a situation where renters were paying a lot to get very little.<br /><br />David Keating used his time at the microphone to complain about continuing noise issues at Villa Metro. Keating, who purchased a home directly across from a soccer field, has been deeply distressed that people play soccer on said field. He said that he and others are "subject to a lot of noise," calling the situation his "plight." "We're suffering over there, every single day," he contended. The soccer center's owner, Scott Schauer, spoke as well. After 20 years of legally running his business at the same spot, Schauer said he's ready to support construction of a sound wall or to look for a new location. Keating was pleased that the center might move, and he asked for the city to help Schauer relocate. He explained that the city is "partially at fault for his [Schauer's] disposition...being where he is." In sum, Keating knowingly bought a home next to a soccer field, hasn't liked the noise, and now feels entitled to request that city resources be used to move the field elsewhere. One hopes that the soccer center owner will make a tidy sum if he does sell his field due to pressure from Villa Metro residents. One also hopes the property will be bought by a company that manufactures car alarms or firecrackers.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ua2tZahtzfo/Vh7E5Um0CAI/AAAAAAAADxM/EEy5BWO-vWI/s1600/Keating1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ua2tZahtzfo/Vh7E5Um0CAI/AAAAAAAADxM/EEy5BWO-vWI/s400/Keating1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mr. Keating, who lamented having to listen to loud soccer games played near his home, may have a different definition of "suffering" than much of the world.</i></div><br />Other comments covered varied topics. Steve Petzold laid the groundwork for remarks he would make later in the evening about the vaping ban. He asked how items end up on the agenda, particularly ones that seem as trivial as the use of electronic cigarettes. "This is a non-issue in the City of Santa Clarita," he said, correctly. Al Ferdman and Cam Noltemeyer rounded out public participation with their thoughts on water and chloride treatment. Ferdman brought up the issue of "redundant" reverse osmosis plants and the place of as-yet-unbuilt Newhall Ranch in Santa Clarita's waterscape. Noltemeyer was pleased that sanitation district meetings were now being held in Santa Clarita, but she said there were many more issues that needed to be resolved.<br /><br /><br /><b>On the Menu</b><br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin responded first to the concerns of mobile home park residents. His reply, delivered bit by bit in English, then Spanish, amounted to "be careful what you wish for." He explained that in response to a floor of 0% on annual rent increases, changes in business practices were being made, and they seemed legal. Planning Manager Jeff Hogan explained the appeals process that residents could use to try to keep costs down. City Attorney Joe Montes said that the city's mobile home park ordinance also states the criteria for capital improvements. Ultimately, though, everyone pointed to the mobile home panel, which has much of the control over appeals, over interpreting what counts as a capital improvement, and over mediating disagreements between residents and owners.<br /><br /><br />The councilmembers offered their usual remarks about upcoming events and about past, successful events. Councilmember Dante Acosta fretted before one of his announcements. He said he felt like he was back in school, when a teacher would chastise him for chewing gum by asking if he'd brought enough for the whole class. Tonight, that "gum" was an announcement of his friend's "Welsh Cakes" business, and he regretted that he could only spotlight one of his favorite local businesses. Most would agree that a little plug at a City Council meeting won't be the big break for any business (viewership can often be counted on one hand), so his worries were probably for naught. Mayor McLean also had food on her mind during the comment period. She said that she had picked out the lunch menu for this year's State of the City Luncheon. McLean promised that it was not chicken, and she hoped people would like her choice. Her eyes sparkled mischievously and she flashed an enigmatic smile, but gave no additional hints. &nbsp; <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IkFOuE6aL64/Vh7E5KUXmpI/AAAAAAAADxQ/jdErOHJ8A44/s1600/Acosta%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IkFOuE6aL64/Vh7E5KUXmpI/AAAAAAAADxQ/jdErOHJ8A44/s640/Acosta%2B1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Councilmember Dante Acosta couldn't help but mention his recent commercial spot when he asked residents to support a charitable diabetes walk coming this fall.</i></div><br /><b>Consent Calendar</b><br /><br />Throughout the meeting leading up to consideration of the consent calendar, a woman had been interpreting on- and off-again for Spanish-speaking residents. She mostly just interpreted the dialogue pertaining to mobile home park rents. It had been a little cumbersome (interpretation has been handled far more smoothly in the past with headsets), and Steve Petzold made a point of this when he came to the podium to speak about Santa Clarita's vaping ban ordinance. Petzold asked for an interpreter, and the mayor asked whether there was anyone in the audience who needed Petzold's testimony to be translated from English to Spanish. Two individuals indicated that they would benefit from such a service. The interpreter moved between the front of the room and the audience as the council tried to decide whether it was better for her to speak at the microphone or to speak directly next to the Spanish-speaking attendants. Petzold would begin speaking, but he was stopped as he wasn't pausing enough to allow for translation. The whole exercise took a few minutes and flustered Mayor McLean. Petzold mostly just smiled with quiet self-satisfaction. Or exasperation. Probably both. He can be hard to read.<br /><br />When he finally began speaking uninterrupted, Steve Petzold lambasted the ordinance to ban the use of electronic smoking devices. E-cigarettes or vaporizers would be treated the same as conventional cigarettes despite presenting far fewer health risks. Petzold's critique was wide-ranging and unforgiving (except it seemed OK to ban them on buses). Several others cam forward to speak against the ordinance as well. Since vaping would be allowed in shops that sold the devices, which had been a non-negotiable for owners of vaping businesses, their remarks were really aimed at diminishing the stigma around the activity. A veteran said that seven other veterans he knows have successfully switched from cigarettes to vaping, and they're the better for it. Some have dropped nicotine altogether. Speakers involved in the vaping industry or community said that vaping isn't synonymous with illegal drug use, that international health authorities have said it's a better alternative to smoking, and that it was factually wrong to say that vaping is the same as smoking. <br /><br />The comments weren't terribly productive. Tonight, the ordinance was before the council for a second reading/final passage, so not much was likely to change. Councilmember TimBen Boydston asked if anyone would support him in allowing vaping in Santa Clarita's extensive open space network, but he found no takers. In other words, it will be illegal for a resident to use an electronic cigarette even if alone on a trail and miles from civilization. The ordinance--and all other items on the consent calendar--passed with recommended action. Those other items included installing a water monitoring well at the Valencia Library and some landscaping contracts.<br /><br /><b>Build Roads, Screw Toads</b><br /><br />The last big item of the evening was a public hearing about plans to extend Via Princessa between Golden Valley Road and Sheldon Avenue. A final EIR and master case were up for approval. Cam Noltemeyer and Lynne Plambeck expressed their misgivings about the project. The environmental impact report concluded that, "Significant and unavoidable impacts would occur due to loss of vernal pool habitat and vernal pool-dependent species...Even with the implementation of mitigation, impacts would remain significant and unavoidable." Sensitive local vernal pool-associated species include arroyo toads, several annual wildflowers, and aquatic invertebrates. Plambeck was dismayed that protecting habitat and wildlife only seems to be a priority for the council when it can be used as a tool to stop unpopular developments, such as the landfill at Elsmere Canyon.<br /><br />The City Council was supportive of the road extension. Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar stated, "Folks, it is our responsibility to do what we can to take care of the human race." He said that someone told him that the top three priorities for those seeking public office should be roads, roads, and roads. Kellar closed with a lament that there are people (SCOPE members, presumably) who "oppose everything!" Councilmember TimBen Boydston gave a more cynically supportive response, stating that people weren't going to get out of their cars <i>en masse</i> and that a functional road infrastructure was critical. Councilmember Acosta agreed, stating that Soledad Canyon Road is gridlocked much of the time and that more big roads are needed, especially near Canyon Country. Acosta said he'd start a collection to fund the road if needed, and Kellar jokingly produced cash to make a donation. Mayor McLean was the last to express her support for the road despite its negative biological impacts. As she was explaining herself, Noltemeyer or Plambeck (or both, I didn't see) made for the exit. She scolded her/them, saying smugly, "So if you're leaving, then apparently, you don't care." <br /><br />The project is far from a done deal. More work has to take place to mitigate habitat loss, some $38M in additional funds need to be secured, and the work itself will take years. But a big road that's been in the works for a while cleared its most recent major hurdle with the support of the full council. <br /><b></b><br /><b></b><b>More Villa Noise</b><br /><br />The second round of public participation saw more speakers on Villa Metro noise and mobile home park pass-throughs. One theme of the mobile home park comments was the perceived lack of communication between managers/owners and residents. No resolution is in sight.<br /><br />One speaker complained not about soccer noise but rather about train noise at Villa Metro. Recall that Villa Metro was sold/built around the idea of "easy access to Southern California's regional rail" (per the New Home Company's websites). It seems that once the soccer field has been driven out, removing trains from the train-based community may be the next goal. Such is Villa Metro.<br /><br />During his comments, Ray Henry mentioned that he didn't like it when councilmembers highlighted businesses at meetings. Acosta had offered his own mini-commercial for Welsh Cakes tonight, but Bob Kellar is the usual promoter. Before the meeting ended, Kellar asked City Attorney Montes if local businesses and "restrunts" could indeed be mentioned, and Montes replied in the affirmative. The meeting ended before 9. <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/_hHvhHpOHh4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com2http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/10/longer-princessa-quieter-villa-stricter.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-83082278441198971812015-09-23T10:14:00.003-07:002015-09-23T10:14:31.525-07:00City Council Fights Sacramento, Invents Vaping Crisis<div class="MsoNormal">Claritans complain all the time, but it’s not every day that a handful of public grievances get a new law on the books. Today was that day at City Council. In response to six written complaints, an ordinance restricting the use of electronic smoking devices (ESDs) was passed to its second reading. The plan to treat vaping like smoking was met with fierce debate by residents when initially presented a few months ago, but tonight’s discussion was brief and subdued by comparison. But vaping wasn't the only cause for dissatisfaction tonight. New complaints about Sacramento legislators, continuing complaints about soccer noise, and eternal complaints about &nbsp;incompetent local officials comprised the balance of the meeting. Let’s relive the memories.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>High Holidays, Near Drowning, School Self-Promotion<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">With summer ending, Mayor Weste’s invocation looked ahead to “the holiday season.” She delivered an invocation that was equal parts well-wishing and Wikipedia entry: “This month, our Jewish friends celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and they commemorate the Day of Atonement, called Yom Kippur. […] For the Jews, these holidays are very important.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Following the flag salute, many emergency responders were recognized for helping to save the life of a little girl. She passed out in a pool, was pulled out of the water by her father (who had to get over a ten-foot fence to reach her), and then received life-saving aid from Deputy Christine Shaffer, Deputy Jason Goedecke, and others. She's made a full recovery.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Next came an enthusiastic presentation from Sulphur Springs administrators and educators. They explained that technology was being embraced by teachers and that students were learning, which I had perhaps mistakenly thought was the norm at schools. &nbsp;The speeches culminated in a video of students tapping iPads in slow motion as an exultant piano melody played in the background.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Public Speaks<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Public participation consisted mostly of familiar faces. Elaine Ballace lamented Santa Clarita’s incompetence at embracing its local artists, actors, and entertainers. She mocked the Arts Commission, which she said seemed to do nothing, had no real power or money, and was too dependent on waiting for an arts master plan. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The SCOPE (Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment) contingent made its presence known, expressing more appreciation than is usual. Lynne Plambeck and a local high school student used their time to applaud the annual river rally and clean-up. Cam Noltemeyer was appreciative of what she called “the CEMEX decision”. Noltemeyer isn’t typically so effusive, but it soon became clear that she only brought up CEMEX as a counterpoint to Chiquita Landfill. That is, Congressman Knight got action against CEMEX mining by holding them to their contract. She hoped someone would hold Chiquita Canyon Landfill operators to their contract as well rather than extending it. (Note that staff and council members have yet to rejoice--or even to acknowledge--what had at first been hailed as an unqualified victory against CEMEX mining. Noltemeyer's mention this evening did not change that.)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">David Keating was tonight’s only speaker on the topic of Villa Metro/Santa Clarita Soccer Center. He said he was representing “at least 42 other residents” who don’t like the noise from the soccer field—the long-standing soccer field that they bought a house right next to. He played a recording, and it sounded exactly like you’d expect things to sound if you bought a home right next to a soccer field: the nighttime chirping of crickets punctuated by shouts from soccer players.&nbsp; “We love the houses, we just don’t like the noise,” explained the man who—sorry if I’m belaboring this point—bought a home right next to a soccer field.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>"No Violations"</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Responses to public comments followed. City Manager Ken Striplin countered Elaine Ballace, saying of the Arts Commission members, “They’re really doing a great job.” His defense likely came because Ballace did have something of a point—the commission doesn’t do a whole lot. But that’s largely because the City Council has tied its members' hands by second-guessing their recommendations and emphasizing reliance on a master plan rather than on good judgment. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Councilmember TimBen Boydston asked about whether noise had been monitored at the soccer center and if any violations had occurred. Striplin called Jeff Hogan forward, and he said that noise monitoring is done all the time by the City, the developer, and others. “Currently, there are no violations,” said Hogan. That is, the soccer center is operating exactly as it's legally allowed to.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Other remarks from the City Council included announcements of upcoming events and praise for past events—the usual. Mayor McLean said that tiny bells will be available for use on trails. Affixed to mountain bikes or horses, they’ll let hikers prepare to safely step to the side or pass when they hear the tinkling of bells. It’s part of the “Make a Little Noise” campaign, a title that was no doubt salt in the wounds of the Villa Metroans. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Stay out of it, Sacramento!<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Mayor McLean made comments on two items on the consent calendar, both pertaining to state bills. SB 254 would make it easier for state highways to be handed over to local agencies. McLean said that this could pose a problem because the roads wouldn’t have to be in good condition and the city or other agency couldn’t decline accepting and maintaining them. AB 806 would give cities less power to oppose/restrict the installation of certain antennas and other broadband infrastructure. McLean said that both bills would give Claritans less control over Clarita, so she opposed them.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">McLean asked for Mike Murphy, Intergovernmental Relations Manager, to come forward and tell residents what else they could do to oppose the bills. He said that there could be more meetings or outreach, and McLean and the other councilmembers encouraged him to ramp up these efforts. I think McLean was hoping for more of a call to action of the citizens—contact the governor and politicians and so on—but no particularly inspiring rallying cry was made.</div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Lynne Plambeck and Cam Noltemeyer spoke in opposition to an item on the consent calendar that paved the way for a new franchise for Valencia Water Company. Noltemeyer said, “The public’s business should be done in public,” arguing that there have been too many backroom deals pertaining to water supply, development, and disposal. Plambeck, who sits on the Newhall County Water District Board, made the same assertion. She said that the Valencia Water Company (VWC) should act as a public company and that the Castaic Lake Water Agency (CLWA) shouldn’t own VWC anyways. The contentious (Plambeck calls it “illegal”) acquisition of VWC by CLWA is still very much on her mind, and she saw tonight’s item as a chance to hold CLWA accountable for gaming the system. “They can’t be public and private at the same time!” she declared, explaining that CLWA is a public agency but keeps VWC’s actions private. The public can’t attend its meetings, request its records, or elect its board, so much remains unscrutinized. City Attorney Joe Montes chose not to weigh in on the legality of the CLWA/VWC arrangement, simply stating that the City would have some rights to oversight of the VWC books since it’s entitled to a franchise fee. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The consent calendar then passed with the recommend actions on all items.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Vape Away<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">A few months ago, the City Council heard a lot of testimony about a plan to treat vaping with electronic smoking devices (ESDs) the same way it treats smoking. It seemed like an easy pass, but residents explained how they had used vaping to quit cigarettes, how vapor was less unhealthful than smoke, and how water vapor wasn’t a major public nuisance. This led to a revision of the ordinance and a revisitation tonight.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The ordinance only came back stronger in its opposition to ESDs. Associate Planner Jessica Frank gave a surprisingly inept talk—overkill of the highest order. “Staff has received a number of complaints from the public regarding ESDs,” she began. By “a number” she meant 6 written and 11 verbal comments. That's 17 remarks in the several years that ESDs have been used in a city of over 200,000. Then she worked on building the case against ESDs. She read a list of chemicals that have been detected in the vapor, including some carcinogens and heavy metals, without bothering to mention how much or under what conditions.&nbsp;Then she moved into a discussion of ignition hazards, stating that there were concerns that ESDs could somehow lead to fires in our open spaces because they’re a heat source. Then she linked ESDs to marijuana use by youth. LA County Sheriff’s Captain Roosevelt Johnson came up to address this topic further, stating that he spoke to “one of our narcotics investigators, and he witnessed personally an eighteen-year-old child who had actually smoked THC and committed suicide because of a psychotic episode right after using that drug.” The message was unequivocal: ESDs might kill you with the drugs and carcinogens they deliver or with the fires they just might start in our open space.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There were far fewer comments from the public tonight than many had been anticipating. Steve Petzold argued, “Cats don’t equal dogs; tobacco is not vapor.” He felt that the staff presentation had been totally unbalanced, stating, “I can’t believe that she hasn’t been rebutted at all”. He said that he supported liberty, not more intrusion into actions that seem to be a less harmful alternative to smoking. He asked the council to really consider if they’d prefer their children to smoke cigarettes instead of using ESDs. Cam Noltemeyer, on the other hand, was in full support of the measure, saying that vaping “is nothing more than a drug problem” to be treated like other drug problems. The final speaker represented the interests of the Vaping Dept. (located in Santa Clarita). He said vaping isn’t synonymous with marijuana use and cited international and federal studies that countered some of the health concerns raised in the staff presentation.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Councilmembers Boydston and Acosta were the most sympathetic to the vaping community, acknowledging that ESDs can be a better alternative to smoking. Acosta gently poked fun at some of the more hyperbolic fears raised in the presentation, saying that it would be ridiculous for a hiker to call the authorities upon seeing a fellow hiker with an e-cigarette on the next ridge over. He expressed his bewilderment at how a handful of comments had brought about such a strong response from staff. “I have issues with a lot of this,” he said, but he felt OK supporting the ordinance if it might protect kids. Boydston got some clarification on enforcement, learning that if law enforcement sees people smoking where it’s not allowed, the smoker is usually just requested to stop, not cited. The other councilmembers were more uniformly supportive of the plan.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Ultimately, the ordinance passed to a second reading, which means that in a couple of weeks, ESD use will be treated about the same as smoking, though it will be allowed in vaping shops. The meeting ended without further comment.<o:p></o:p></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/9WjAPqhhMvg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com1http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/09/city-council-fights-sacramento-invents.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-66692575469341724632015-09-09T00:03:00.000-07:002015-09-09T00:03:02.875-07:00The Meeting That Scarcely Was<div class="MsoNormal">I am tempted to summarize tonight’s meeting thusly: nothing happened. But that’s not entirely accurate. There were interesting developments on the Villa Metro/soccer front with sympathy for Villa Metro residents fast evaporating. And some legitimate business took place—bridges will be widened, permits streamlined, and bonds transferred. So let’s get into recapping tonight's lean, mean City Council-ing.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Hispanic Heritage Septober<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Councilmember TimBen Boydston’s invocation was a short, somber prayer for Armenian Genocide victims, hundreds of thousands of whom were killed a century ago. After the pledge and some housekeeping, it was time for less grave matters.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">“It was the Spaniards who named the Santa Clara River, which led to our name, the Santa Clarita Valley,” explained Mayor Marsha McLean as she prepared to proclaim Hispanic Heritage Month. Unusually, the “month” stretches from September 15<sup>th</sup> to October 15<sup>th</sup>. It’s a Hispanic Heritage Septober, if you will. A large number of residents came forward for the photo and proclamation. There was laughter as Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar lifted a little girl onto the dais for a better view—McLean admonished him to set her back down. Patsy Ayala, chair of the SCV Latino Business Alliance (among other titles), was proud of the month and said it recognized “American citizens whose ancestors came from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">After applause and photos, a second proclamation was made, this one for Rubber Ducky Festival Day. Proceeds benefit the Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers. Unfortunately, the usual guy in a big yellow duck costume wasn’t present. The absence was keenly felt when Mayor McLean asked, “Do we have a rubber ducky?” When she discovered he wasn’t there, she lamented with an "Oh, darn."<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Villa Metro and the $160,000 Wall<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Public participation began with Elaine Ballace asking that Santa Clarita more fully realize its role as Hollywood North. It was a somewhat confusing comment as she likened Santa Clarita to the LA subway--something that people know of but not particularly well. Ballace said that affordable housing for artists, a film festival, and an entertainment fair would be good places to start the SCV in realizing its cinematic destiny.</div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp; &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">A couple of residents then spoke about parking challenges near the park-and-ride on Newhall Avenue (the one near the condos). They were worried that parking requirements weren’t being enforced, that there wouldn’t be enough parking with the low-income housing planned for the area, and that no one was taking accountability for managing the area. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">While there were no Villa Metro residents present this evening, their complaints about soccer noise from earlier this month were addressed by both the soccer center and the developer. Scott Schauer of the Santa Clarita Soccer Center said that they’ve installed light shields and automatic light timers to make certain that lights are unobtrusive and go off when they’re supposed to. He claimed that the center has a strict policy against cussing and promised that repeat offenders would face consequences. Schauer asked that people remember the center’s long history in the valley and said that he thought some complaints made were unfair. Rick Bianchi of the New Home Company (Villa Metro builder) said that he spoke at a well-attended Villa Metro HOA meeting last week. Binachi was dismayed that his company’s offer to build a $160,000 sound wall to reduce noise by about 50% “was not very well received.” He restated that disclosures had been signed when residents were buying their homes. Thus, it seems that Villa Metro residents aren’t happy with the soccer field nor the offer to build an expensive sound wall that would lessen its impact.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In response to the speakers, City Manager Ken Striplin said that Ballace’s movie industry suggestions would be considered. He said that he knew the park-and-ride on Newhall Avenue was a “maintenance challenge”, but affirmed that it should be well-patrolled. Councilmember Boydston weighed the Villa Metro developments soberly, saying that “there are two sides to ever story.” If I had to pick a side for him, though, he seemed sympathetic to the soccer folks so long as they operated within the bounds of their permit.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Consent Granted<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">The consent calendar was brief and approved with just a little protest. Item 5 was the toughest pill to swallow. Councilmember Dante Acosta asked Striplin to expand on the ordinance, which expedited and streamlined residential solar cell permitting. Sounds good, right? The City Manager explained that legislators in Sacramento have now required cities to adopt such policies. He was a bit upset at the imposition, saying that Santa Clarita’s permitting process had been working just fine and that top-down control was counterproductive if anything. Al Ferdman was more intrigued by Item 7, which involved a lot of movement of library bond proceeds but ultimately seemed like a zero-sum game (it was, confirmed Striplin). Without any further discussion, the consent calendar was approved unanimously with the recommended actions taken on all items. Thus, solar panel permitting will change, Lost Canyon Road Bridge will be widened, and bond funding will be sorted out.<o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There was a public hearing on financing of Bouquet Canyon Senior Apartments under a Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) resolution. Part of the approval process included extending the amount of time that the apartments would be restricted to older, low-income persons. Councilmember Weste was pleased, but she asked that everyone think about ways to achieve even longer-term agreements to provide such housing. As it stands, most of these requirements expire after a few decades. Without further discussion, the TEFRA resolution was adopted. The meeting ended just a little after 7.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/pCTY4s-k57s" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com1http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-meeting-that-scarcely-was.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-52872157645572020812015-08-26T08:51:00.000-07:002015-08-26T08:51:45.707-07:00War Memorials and Profane Footballers<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With a sparse agenda after summer recess, the City Council relied on residents to supply most of the discussion this evening. Another war memorial, little libraries, and noisy soccer games were among the unagendized items considered. This didn’t make for a particularly action-packed meeting. Luckily, Al Ferdman’s incipient let’s-slow-down-on-Laemmle campaign and the first ever shout of “¡Putos!” from the podium made for an interesting night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Feel-Good Stuff<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I have something very, very…very, very special,” teased Mayor Marsha McLean as she opening the meeting. McLean called forward a Canyon High student named Sarah Kennedy and Kelsey, her friend from the “Yes I Can” program. Sarah has autism, and she’s been working to build autism awareness and to make friends far and wide. “I make friends by offering gumballs,” she explained, and she showed a video of the thousands of connections she’s made with students, politicians, and celebrities over gum. McLean applauded Sarah’s efforts and said, “Friendship is everything.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Following the flag salute, the City Council recognized Kirstin Campbell and Andrei Mojica for earning “world champion” titles in taekwondo competitions at the ATA World Championships. McLean read from a prepared statement that said spectators “from over six continents” came to cheer on thousands of marital artists. The second recognition of the evening went to the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Department team that helped quickly locate a missing teen girl earlier this month. She was found hiding in the garage of a sex offender and all were grateful for the discovery before things got even worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A Word from the Public<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most of tonight’s public participation speakers addressed the topic of military memorials. Kevin Duxbury, a veteran, asked that the council consider moving the tribute on Fallen Warriors Memorial Bridge. It’s difficult to access, he said, and it might be more fittingly placed in Central Park. Several other speakers said they were in favor of building a new memorial to honor all of those Claritans who have died in military service. The idea was Bill Reynolds’, and he envisioned a substantial granite monument in the shape of a “V” (for valor) placed in the Veterans Historical Plaza. Reynolds and his supporters felt that the other military memorials in Santa Clarita weren’t as all-encompassing, accessible, or imposing as the proposed monument would be. The crowd was supportive and applauded a couple of times, but McLean stepped in to stop the disruption: “Ladies and gentlemen, um, if you don’t mind please, we, um, need to kind of move along and applause is kind of not the norm here so please, if you don’t mind.” Thereafter, clapping was stifled.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Drake Hougo, a senior at Saugus High School, came to the podium to describe his love of Santa Clarita, community service, and placing unpermitted miniature libraries in the public right-of-way. Indeed, Hougo has made the news lately because he put up some boxes for taking and leaving books in high-traffic spots in the city. Problematically, he did so without seeking the landowner’s (i.e., the City’s) permission. Thus, he was ordered to remove them for the time being.&nbsp; He argued that it was hard to argue with the popularity of his libraries, and he claimed that they fit in with the city’s goals because, “Santa Clarita has a very heavy arts emphasis.” Hougo’s father supported his son’s intentions and shouldered the blame for not going through the required process.&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the last meeting, you might recall the public’s unbridled enthusiasm for a Laemmle Theater to anchor Old Town Newhall. The council then agreed to enter negotiations with Laemmle and its partner, Seranno Development Group, to build a parking structure, six-screen theater, and mixed retail/residential spaces. Laemmle and Seranno were looking for some $13M in city “participation.” During his comments tonight, Alan Ferdman asked a lot of questions about the wisdom of the proposed project. He said that Laemmle has closed 6 theaters in the past decade. It could take over 80 years for taxpayers to see their investment return in the form of tax revenue, he warned. And Ferdman also worried about less-than-optimal parking and which funds would be used to subsidize the development. In short, Ferdman suggested that residents chill on the Laemmle brand. He pointed out that it’s a profit-driven movie chain just like the others. It may play up its arthouse leanings, but Laemmle theaters will readily play big mainstream releases if that’s what its clientele is looking for. The theater’s fanboys/girls were not present in sufficient numbers to counter Ferdman’s concerns. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">City Manager Ken Striplin was the first to respond to public comments. He handled the issue of the little sidewalk libraries with sober enthusiasm. He liked the idea, but he pointed out that there are concerns about liability, litigation, and loss of access when people just build stuff in the public right-of-way. Striplin apologized for having to disappoint Ferdman on the Laemmle development—with negotations underway, there was too much uncertainty to answer all (or really any) of his questions. Finally, Striplin left it up to the council as to whether it wished to consider adding a monument to the Veterans Plaza.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The council was uniformly in favor of considering a monument for the plaza, so a formal discussion is likely soon. However, Councilmembers Laurene Weste and Dante Acosta expressed some concerns about the other idea floated during comments—to move the plaque at Fallen Warriors Memorial Bridge. Acosta contended that it was a decision best made after consulting Santa Clarita’s gold star families. Councilmembers also politely encouraged Drake Hougo to follow the rules when it came to building and installing his miniature libraries. General comments from the City Council followed. Several focused on recent passings, including the tragic death of teenager Wyatt Savaikie and the death of former City Attorney Carl Newton. The upcoming annual Santa Clara River Rally was mentioned. And Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar even got in a “little plug” for a local business: “You cannot believe the amount of inventory they have in Paul’s Paint and Hardware…let’s go visit those folks!” So it was very much business as usual, the only remarkable thing being Councilmember TimBen Boydston’s uncharacteristic terseness.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Quiet Consent<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The consent calendar had a few items of note. There was a design contract for the Vista Canyon Regional Transit Center and another for removal of all turf from city street medians. Staff proposed no-stopping zones in a couple of heavily-trafficked spots. But it was only a lease for a temporary fire station that garnered any comment. Weste worried that fire personnel might be stuck in some temporary shack of sorts, and she wanted to make certain that accommodations were suitable for the men and women dedicated to protecting public safety. City Manager Striplin said the term “temporary” could be a little misleading—structures were still designed to hold up—but he would investigate further. All of the items were then approved unanimously with the recommended actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Noisy Neighbors<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The second round of public participation focused on the trouble with living next to a busy soccer field. Residents of Villa Metro said they’ve been in their new homes for mere months, but the living situation is already unbearable. Living next to the Santa Clarita Soccer Center means non-stop noise from games stretching from morning to eleven o’clock at night. Lights and errant soccer balls and people trespassing into yards are also problematic, but the noise is what has put residents on edge. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Two couples and a single mother attempted to convey what their experience has been like. One woman grew very emotional as she described feeling like a prisoner in her own home. The cursing in Spanish has really upset her because she can understand curse words that non-Spanish-speakers might be able to more easily ignore. She has been told to play music, run the air conditioner, or shut up her house to dampen the noise, but she lives in California and wants to be able to open her windows. The owner of the soccer center apparently tried to console her by saying that games aren’t held on four days a year. The most dramatic statements came from Chermaine Fontennete. She jarred the council chambers as she banged on the podium and yelled, “Putos! Javier! Gooooooal!” to simulate what it’s like every weekend morning. “I am a heavy duty truck operator,” she explained—an exhausted one. Working for the City of Los Angeles, she is supposed to get ten hours of rest to safely operate her heavy truck for ten hours a day, but she said that this is impossible living next to the soccer field. “I could kill people, kill children, because I can’t sleep.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One may be wondering why these people bought their homes in the first place. Most claimed that the true extent of the noise hadn’t been fully disclosed. Fontenette mocked the disclosure, which she said came very late in the process. “Oh, we have a little disclosure…there’s a small soccer field over there. Kids play.” She argued that it’s not just kids, it’s not small, and it’s operating at very late hours. McLean pointed out that “When you purchase a home you kind of look around and see what’s around.” It was a valid point, but she seemed almost apologetic for even bringing it up. Indeed, most of her comments were much more sympathetic to the homeowners, and she promised to try and find a solution for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Steve Petzold also spoke during public participation, touching on topics such as CVRA lawsuits and illegal immigrants and the justice system. His remarks were not addressed. Finally, seven comment cards were in favor of the little libraries were also received and acknowledged. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With the hope of a soccer noise crackdown, the meeting ended.<o:p></o:p></span></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/vi6DvdDGLXo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com1http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/08/war-memorials-and-profane-footballers.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-80158199727426417422015-07-15T08:05:00.003-07:002015-07-15T08:13:40.913-07:00Five Knolls for the Old; Laemmle Courted<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;">There was something for everyone at tonight’s City Council meeting, and indeed, everyone was there. After the council chambers filled beyond capacity, people moved to the Century Room, which itself surpassed capacity. While people addressed topics ranging from nursing labor disputes to sidewalk maintenance, two agenda items were the main draws. First, many showed up in support of a senior center/YMCA/age-restricted housing modification of the Five Knolls development. Second, a devoted group of Laemmle lovers stuck-out the meeting to express their fervent desire for one of the distinctive movie theaters&nbsp;to&nbsp;come to&nbsp;Newhall. Fittingly for this last meeting before summer hiatus, there was a few meeting’s worth of action.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;"> </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;">Public Participation, Attention Divided</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;"></span></strong><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Bob Kellar’s invocation consisted of playing a YouTube clip of a song called, “My Name is America.” The language was quite patriotic...but just a little&nbsp;scattered and clichéd. Some of the lyrics and their accompanying images are pasted below.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Times;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ox9cdwNtVOU/VaYB3uTxenI/AAAAAAAADeA/99U7uLCp0S8/s1600/AMERICA%2521.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ox9cdwNtVOU/VaYB3uTxenI/AAAAAAAADeA/99U7uLCp0S8/s640/AMERICA%2521.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;"></span>&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Several community recognitions followed. 99-year-old Doreetha Daniels received very enthusiastic cheers as Mayor McLean praised her for being the oldest graduate in College of the Canyon's history.&nbsp;The Veterans Memorial Committee was called forward next,&nbsp;and recognition of&nbsp;Hollywood Curling (that sport combining ice, stone, and broom)&nbsp;for holding its bonspiel in the SCV completed this portion of the evening.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Next up was public participation.&nbsp;Three&nbsp;people spoke as or on behalf of nurses at Newhall Memorial.&nbsp;Nurses are&nbsp;still involved in&nbsp;contentious negotiations with the hospital's management and&nbsp;are working without a contract--the situation's been like this for months. They said the sticking point is management's insistence that they agree&nbsp;to give up their right to&nbsp;class-action suits. Purportedly unfair/illegal&nbsp;labor policies (e.g., demanding nurses finish duties after clocking out) were also mentioned by some.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Another&nbsp;few speakers were concerned&nbsp;about plans to convert a park-and-ride in Newhall to low-income housing; this matter was weighed at the previous council meeting. Bobbie Constantine expressed concerns that included&nbsp;increases in crime, parking issues, changing neighborhood character,&nbsp;and loss of open space (some of these were a&nbsp;stretch).&nbsp;"Homeowners in our community have already put their homes up for sale!" she claimed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Other speakers during public participation included Al Ferdman, who asked whether it was legal to remove the open public participation portion of some committee meetings, and Steve Petzold, who said that the recent fire by Remsen Street demonstrated its unsuitability as a site to host a giant digital billboard. He was also concerned about how Santa Clarita would handle a situation similar to the one in San Francisco where a woman was fatally shot by an illegal immigrant/five-time deportee.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Responses from City Manager Ken Striplin were efficient. He informed Ferdman that&nbsp;government code differentiates between regular and special meetings--the latter don't need open, general public comment. As for the affordable housing project, he said,&nbsp;"That project has been approved, and is approved, is done." So that settles that. He did, however, say that&nbsp;staff could discuss concerns with neighbors, especially with regard to parking.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;"><strong>Mobile Homes Settled</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Most items on the&nbsp;consent calendar weren't commented on--the majority had to do with Metrolink, roads, and other transportation issues. Several speakers did want to be heard on Item 13, which was the second reading and adoption of the revised mobile home park ordinance. Recall that the big change made last time was an alteration to the annual allowable increase in rents. Rather than an automatic 2.6% or 3% every year, the floor on increases was lowered to 0--they'll mirror changes in the CPI. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Elaine Ballace, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the council, thanked them for changing their minds on rent increases. She was still dismayed that Kellar was against the 0% floor, but her tone was far less stringent than usual. A mobile home park owner came up to express his concerns that he wouldn't be able to afford raises for his employees&nbsp;with the new policy.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Jim Soliz was able to&nbsp;pry himself away from his lucrative hobby of suing public entities in voting rights lawsuits to&nbsp;comment on this item. He said that he didn't think the&nbsp;city was obligated to make a policy to guarantee park owners a fair rate of return (his point would be addressed later--the city is legally required to&nbsp;allow a fair return if it's going to step in and regulate rents). Other familiar faces from what has been a very long battle came forward as well.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">The entirety of the consent calendar was passed with the recommended actions except for the mobile home park ordinance, on which Bob Kellar voted "no"&nbsp;while his fellow council members voted "yes."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;"><strong>Knolls on a Roll</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">The&nbsp;room was&nbsp;full of people with red, heart-shaped&nbsp;stickers that said "Heart of Santa Clarita." These were supporters of&nbsp;modifications to plans for the Five Knolls development, another project that's been around forever. (More accurately, the sticker crowd was mostly comprised of&nbsp;supporters of plans for a&nbsp;new senior center to be built at Five Knolls.)&nbsp;Synergy's Rick&nbsp;Doremus came forward to explain the&nbsp;proposed revision to the tract map for the area. He explained that&nbsp;a larger YMCA,&nbsp; senior center, large parking area, and 154 age-restricted homes would be built under the new plan. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Doremus&nbsp;didn't really get into the history of the project--that was done by Councilmember TimBen Boydston. Originally, there had been two parcels, one slated for a junior high school and another for the YMCA. It was all a part of the requirement that the developer provide a "public benefit." When it was clear that the new school wasn't going to be built,&nbsp;the developer was left with a lot of valuable land. The proposal was&nbsp;to remove the requirement for public benefit on this land and to&nbsp;create three parcels--one for the senior center, one for the YMCA, and one for a whole bunch of homes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Boydston echoed the concerns of Cam Noltemeyer, the only speaker in opposition. He was concerned about residents losing a major public benefit like a new school. He also asked whether there was enough water, considered traffic impacts, and worried there might not be enough parking. Other council members expressed concerns as well. Mayor McLean very seriously stated that her vote was contingent on making the new senior center look less like an ugly "warehouse." Again, McLean is a stickler for aesthetics, and the crowd laughed as Doremus essentially groveled, saying he'd do whatever it would take to make it look nice. It was embarrassing for all parties involved. Councilmember Weste's concerns were more practical--she wanted to know if particular sorts of hinges would be used in bathrooms and asked about all manner of accessibility issues for the age-restricted housing. Finally, Councilmember Acosta wondered whether they really needed to have homes with two-stories, two or three bedrooms, and two-thousand square-feet for seniors. Doremus assured him there was a market.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Bob Kellar was the most unquestioningly supportive, and the crowd was his. While Boydston got booed for saying that there wouldn't be enough parking and that might affect his vote, Kellar was loudly applauded for his support of the project. Most of the speakers during public participation had spoken to the urgent need for a bigger new senior center, so there was really only one way to go on the project. The council approved the changes unanimously.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;"><strong>Laemmle Love</strong></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;"> <span style="line-height: 115%;">After a recess, there was a presentation on a proposal to enter into exclusive negotiations with Laemmle Theatres&nbsp;and Serrano Development Group&nbsp;over an exciting (to most) new development planned for right across the street from the Newhall Library. Basically, the City will put up a bunch of money or incentives to get some attractive new developments. Jason Crawford explained that the City had been looking for a project to anchor Old Town Newhall, and a theater was seen as all but essential. After talking to interested parties and seeking proposals, they selected a plan from Laemmle and Serrano. There would be a big parking structure, a six-screen theater, and additional retail/housing mixed-use space.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">Greg Lammle was the first speaker, and he had clearly gone to the trouble of sitting through the council meeting and googling Santa Clarita in order to charm the crowd (it worked). He said that when not at the new senior center, seniors could enjoy special movie nights. Other residents could enjoy a show and then do some shopping or eat at the Newhall Refinery. He closed by saying that his company was genuinely interested in being a part of Santa Clarita, and he expected that they could draw 150,000-200,000 people per year based on similar projects elsewhere.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There were many supportive public speakers that followed--no one spoke in opposition. Many were seniors (quite a lot of overlap between the Five Knolls and Laemmle crowd, actually) and spoke in glowing terms about the theater and about how they hated having to drive out of the valley to visit others. While Weste and Boydston had had to recuse themselves from discussion of the project, Weste was allowed to speak in a personal capacity, and she gave a tremendously energetic speech in support of the project. "We all just want dinner and a movie!" she exclaimed. The crowd erupted. It was remarkable how much people supported the plan (20 speakers!), and not even Dante Acosta could diminish their spirit when he pointed out that we were still in the negotiation phase, and a theater wouldn't be built anytime soon. He described the relationship between City and Laemmle as dating. (And in dating terms, Santa Clarita was damn thirsty--my assessment, not Acosta's.) </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">In any case, plans to enter negotiations passed unanimously.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; line-height: 115%;">The room was all but vacant after this matter was resolved, but a few stuck around to hear Rick Gould describe plans for Old Orchard Park. There wasn't much discussion, but the master plan was called beautiful and staff was praised for working to develop the plan with the community. Mayor McLean worried that fake turf would be used for a rolling hill instead of real Bermuda grass, but this will be discussed more fully later. The meeting ended well after 10. And now, the council is on hiatus until late August.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;"> </span><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/yHnhSutmZ24" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com1http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/07/five-knolls-for-old-laemmle-courted.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-33804913913149686752015-06-24T08:01:00.001-07:002015-06-24T15:43:03.808-07:00Legal Bullying Backfires, Star Oil House to be DozedThe motivation behind our City Council's actions can be bewildering. Tonight, it seems as if legal threats from mobile home park owners actually strengthened&nbsp;council's support for mobile home park residents.&nbsp;With a 0% floor on annual rent increases as of tonight's vote&nbsp;(it could have been as high as 2.6% or 3%), things certainly worked out better for residents than the night when they all showed up, spoke, and made only modest gains. The rest of the meeting wasn't particularly eventful; the dramatic&nbsp;rent change was likely boldness enough&nbsp;for one meeting.<br /><br /><strong>A Late Start</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />The meeting began 40 minutes late--if there's anything more fun than a council meeting, it's waiting for a council meeting.&nbsp;"We apologize for the delay," said&nbsp;Mayor McLean, before handing things over to Councilmember Dante Acosta for the convocation. He offered a moment of silence for the victims of the devastating church shooting in South Carolina. Afterward, Acosta prayed for the Lord's guidance of their actions that evening.<br /><br />&nbsp;The City Council next recognized achievements by Santa Clarita's young and by her old. High school swimmer Victoria Kirshner was applauded for winning a pair of CIF titles, and Harold and Jacquie Petersen were recognized for their philanthropic work. Councilmember Weste gushed over the Petersens as she spoke about their award. She adored how they're still so very much in love and "cute"&nbsp;after meeting in 1946.<br /><br /><strong>Nurses vs. Management</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Douglas Delahunty was the first speaker during public participation. He said that he and his fellow Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital&nbsp;nurses were looking for help to avoid a stroke. The critical issue in the contract, it seemed, was the hospital's insistence on a clause that would forbid class-action lawsuits.&nbsp;Robbie Bailey,&nbsp;a veteran nurse of&nbsp;HMNMH, said that she and her fellow 600 nurses faced many&nbsp;unfair labor practices like having to clock out and then finish their records and duties. She said patients could suffer if management stretches nurses too thin. <br /><br />The other group of speakers&nbsp;present for public participation were waiting&nbsp;intently for the mobile home park ordinance hearing.&nbsp;Since they had to reserve their comments on that topic for later, they spoke on more peripheral topics. Doug Fraser asked for the mobile home park item to be moved up earlier in the evening as man families had&nbsp;school and work early the next day. Ray Henry called out a nameless councilperson for unethically promoting private businesses from his seat at the dais (clearly, he was referring to&nbsp;Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar, who gave a shout-out to a restaurant last meeting and has done so on occasion before.)&nbsp;If anybody actually watched council meetings, Henry's point might be more valid. Finally, Henry Soliz complained that the City hasn't always been cooperative with translation services in the past, though some were present tonight.<br /><br />Finally, a young speaker asked for support of a proposed amendment against corporate personhood, and Cindy Howard asked for the City's help in attracting a new adult daycare business or in facilitating transport to a center in the SFV since Santa Clarita's will no longer be available. Almost in tears, she described the difficulties of balancing work with driving her mother to such a center.<br /><br />In response to comments, City Manager Ken&nbsp;Striplin said that he'd have someone from&nbsp;Dial-A-Ride speak with Howard. He acknowledged but didn't quite delve into the other topics addressed. Boydston and Kellar overtly acknowledged the restaurant plugs from the past and asked&nbsp;City Attorney Joe Montes for his opinion. (It sounded like there wasn't anything glaringly illegal, but Montes would look into it further.) The&nbsp;council also agreed to move the mobile home park item up earlier in the meeting. <br /><br />The male members of council elected to forego their comments during committee reports and updates. Weste and McLean didn't go quite that far, but they did keep things brief, mentioning the Fourth of July Parade, high-speed rail updates, and&nbsp;the "positive" direction in which CEMEX&nbsp;work is moving in D.C.<br /><br /><strong>Option No</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />The consent calendar wasn't particularly voluminous tonight. It included a second reading of the budget and a number of items relating to infrastructure and maintenance, like a contract for pool chemicals. Councilmember Boydston asked about Item 5, in which the City expressed its support for one of the proposed alternatives from the Rim of the Valley draft study. Staff recommended Option D, but Boydston preferred a modified Option C, because he didn't want to get too much in the way of development (Option D did the most to save land&nbsp;and was favored by a number of conservation&nbsp;groups). Weste said that the study has been a long time coming and&nbsp;wouldn't lead to decisive action very soon. Additionally, picking an option part C, part D would confuse the issue, she said. Her points were reasonable and seemed better-informed than Boydston's, but Boydston and Acosta would both ultimately vote against support for Option D. The rest of the consent calendar was approved unanimously.<br /><br /><strong>More Than Residents Hoped For</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />The mobile home park ordinance has been drafted, discussed, and debated for a very long time. It looked like an ordinance was going to be passed months ago. Recall that there was a meeting with a huge turnout of mobile home park residents. The council, sympathetic to their endlessly rising rents, voted to decrease the annual minimum increase from 3% to 2.6% (the average CPI in past years). This led to legal posturing from mobile home park owners. They threatened lawsuits if they couldn't realize a fair rate of return on their properties, arguing that a reduction from 3% to 2.6% would do just that.<br /><br />Thus, the&nbsp;issue went back to staff for a while and meetings were held. The draft presented tonight had changed and strengthened and clarified some language, but the big point of contention remained the floor on annual rent increases. During comments, Doug Fraser brought up some other points relating to board composition and the appeals project. Elaine Ballace was unimpressed by the council's attempts to help residents, and she said there's a reason Warren Buffet has billions in the mobile home industry--it's very profitable from the owners' side. Ray Henry asked why the City was so afraid of lawsuits and changed so willingly in response to the mere threat of suits from owners. Still, the 2.6% floor was the big problem for most; Fraser just hoped it wouldn't go back up to 3%.<br /><br />After comments--surprisingly few from residents and none from owners or management--Boydston spoke. He gave an unnecessarily long speech about how he was trying to see things from the perspective of owners and renters alike, explaining each of their interests to an audience that, using common sense, could also identify these interests themselves. But then he delivered a bold proposal: lower the floor from 2.6% to 0%, allowing owners to increase rent in accordance with CPI by right. They could increase the rent further if required for capital improvements or to realize a fair rate of return, but they'd just need to submit evidence and a petition through the mobile home park board. Councilmember Weste enthusiastically supported Boydston's proposal, and she used the strongest language of anyone in supporting renters. She said their situation is "appalling" and almost impossible to&nbsp;work out for people on fixed incomes. When she got applause, she told the audience to be&nbsp;silent because the little the council could do wasn't worth celebrating: "This is just a tragedy." Acosta was also OK with the&nbsp;changes proposed by Boydston, though less enthusiastic. He reminded people that owners could sell the parks to be developed as more profitable homes: "Be careful what you ask for."<br /><br />McLean and&nbsp;Kellar weren't convinced. They wondered whether they could face legal consequences. Montes, who had drafted another page of clarification for the ordinance,&nbsp;assured them that language clarified owners' right to&nbsp;earn a fair rate or return and gave them a process to do so. McLean and Kellar also worried about whether the plan could backfire and lead to even higher rents. Kellar didn't want so much meddling, even dropping the "s" word (socialism) about getting involved with private business. He said&nbsp;things were more complicated than CPI alone.&nbsp;In the end, Boydston's measure went through with a vote from everyone but Kellar. McLean gave her support at the last minue, but she offered an ominous prediction that things might not work out so well.<br /><br />Interestingly, one of the things that seems to have worked against&nbsp;owners tonight was their aggressive&nbsp;approach of legal threats. Boydston said a letter he received last night used a lot of invective and threats, and he said this was&nbsp;not called for. Likewise, other councilmembers felt that being constantly threatened wasn't the most productive approach. So the residents, some of whom were just hoping to still get a 2.6% floor, came out better than they&nbsp;expected. Now, rents will increase by the CPI, with a cap of 5%. Additionally, there is clear language allowing owners to raise rents higher if needed for a fair rate of return or to make improvements.<br /><br /><strong>The Bulldozer for Star Oil</strong><br /><br />24148 Pine Street is home to two old structures, one of which is the so-called Star Oil House. It once hosted magnates from Southern California's fledgling oil industry, so&nbsp;it was designated as a historic building. But when a fire swept through, the building suffered and is considered a&nbsp;"total loss." Tonight's hearing removed the historic designation from the structure and directed it and the other structure to be torn down.<br /><br />Leon Worden spoke about some historical ambiguity concerning the identity and significance&nbsp;of the second structure. He asked that it be allowed to remain until the SCV Historical Society could investigate further. Unswayed, Laurene Weste pushed for the recommended action of tearing both structures&nbsp;down. She assumed that City Manager&nbsp;Striplin would have enough sense and prudence to let the&nbsp;historical society look through the building for artifacts, etc. before&nbsp;directing it to be&nbsp;destroyed. Boydston and Striplin, however, preferred more explicit direction, so it was ultimately decided that there would be a month during which the SCV&nbsp;Historical Society could investigate. Unless something significant was discovered, both structures would be taken down.<br /><br />After Cam Noltemeyer offtered a wide-ranging and characteristically dissatisfied remark about the state of things in Santa Clarita, the meeting adjourned at 9:21.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/qX7MgEOyPr8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com1http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/06/legal-bullying-backfires-star-oil-house.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2893302589122052170.post-75100842495998813912015-06-10T10:22:00.001-07:002015-06-10T10:22:14.518-07:00Open Space Aplenty, Big Budget NumbersI would be remiss if I didn't begin tonight's recap with a note--more of a lament, really--about the state of Santa Clarita news. After recently downsizing its paper to&nbsp;five printings a week,&nbsp;<em>The Signal</em> is also looking to downsize its home,&nbsp;abandoning the long-held Creekside headquarters.&nbsp;The daily news briefs of SCVTalk are no more; Josh Premako's talent for new aggregation and digestion will be dearly missed. And tonight,&nbsp;KHTS new director Perry Smith sat in on his last council meeting after taking a new&nbsp;job. He has&nbsp;forsaken Santa Clarita and her goodly people for that other valley. With so much change,&nbsp;consumers of&nbsp;Claritan news are scared and confused.&nbsp;We can comfort ourselves by paraphrasing&nbsp;that line from <em>Lost</em>:&nbsp;"If&nbsp;anything goes wrong, Luke Money will be our constant."<br /><br /><strong>Kellarian Efficiency</strong><br /><br />Tonight's meeting began with just three councilmembers--Boydston, Kellar, and Weste. Mayor Pro Tem Kellar&nbsp;led the meeting in the absence of Mayor McLean, explaining that she had been busy with high-speed rail matters all day and would be arriving later. Councilmember Acosta, he said, was&nbsp;on business&nbsp;in Washington, D.C.&nbsp;Councilmember Weste&nbsp;provided the invocation, a tribute&nbsp;to fathers&nbsp;delivered in the form of "Did you know?" questions. For example, did you know that babies can distinguish the voice of their fathers by four weeks of age?&nbsp;Well now you do.<br /><br />Kellar kept things moving briskly, and soon it was time for&nbsp;public participation. Steve Petzold said&nbsp;the center median lane of Creekside Road has to be used for the loading/unloading of vehicles at the car dealerships as there is no other spot for it. It's&nbsp;unsafe and less than ideal.&nbsp;He suggested that the&nbsp;auto dealers acquire the property being sold by&nbsp;<em>The Signal</em> to use instead of the center median. Apparently, he reached out to Don Fleming (FLEMWATCH&nbsp;alert!), but received no response. Cam Noltemeyer encouraged the City to file a lawsuit to make more headway in fighting high-speed rail. She also said there should be a lawsuit on the chloride issue (she didn't&nbsp;explain which aspect--presumably to contest the stringent chloride levels required). In short, Noltemeyer wants a more litigious Santa Clarita. Finally, Doug Fraser brought everyone up to speed on developments pertaining to the mobile home park ordinance revision. He thought the City should do more to keep mobile home park residents apprised of developments, and he wanted to know&nbsp;the date when the matter would return to council.<br /><br />With just a few updates&nbsp;the&nbsp;sparsely populated dais, it was time for the consent calendar&nbsp;at 6:30.<br /><br /><strong>Your Space is Open</strong><br />&nbsp;<br />Much of this evening's agenda pertained to open space,&nbsp;including two items&nbsp;to acquire parcels for preservation. There was a&nbsp;1/3-acre parcel along Sand Canyon Road that would help with trail connections and a 60-acre parcel that would bolster holdings in Quigley Canyon. Cam Noltemeyer was upset that the Quigley Canyon&nbsp;land was part of&nbsp;an oil operation. City&nbsp;Manager Ken Striplin objected to this characterization, and he had Rick Gould explain&nbsp;that there was&nbsp;no active oil equipment operating there, just remnants. There is, however, a lease for water wells and pipelines, operation of which requires under an acre of the property. Speaker Sandra Cattell of the open space audit panel said that she hoped lease revenue (~$40,000) would go back&nbsp;into the open space account. Gould said the lease money would indeed go to the City.<br /><br />Other items&nbsp;pertaining to open space included improvements to Pacific Crest Park and submitting a grant&nbsp;application to restore a Canyon Country flood control channel to a more natural state. The entirety of the consent calendar passed with the recommended actions.&nbsp;Mayor McLean arrived toward the end and was able to vote.&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong>Budget Numbers</strong><br /><br />City Manager Ken Striplin presented the&nbsp;$187.2M budget for the&nbsp;2015-2016 fiscal year. He began with the usual introductory spiel about how financially responsible Santa Clarita is. There are ample reserves that will be increased even further. The council guides staff with its fiscally astute&nbsp;and conservative decrees. Revenue has rebounded to pre-recession levels (there will be an anticipated $34M&nbsp;from sales tax alone).&nbsp;It was a lot of back-patting.<br /><br />Striplin said parks &amp; rec and public safety were the largest items on the budget, accounting for nearly half of it.&nbsp;Additional budget items included $40,000 for&nbsp;more ranger services for open space; $84,000 for "river encampment clean-ups" that will remove homeless people and their homes from the wash; $109,000 for the Tourism Marketing District; $138,000 for CEMEX advocacy; $50,000 for public television; and, of course, $80,000 for holiday lights in Newhall.<br /><br />Al Ferdman was troubled about the budget's&nbsp;"indicated re-launch of the extreme neighborhood makeover...unfortunately that particular activity has not been successful." He complained that it never went to completion in any neighborhood and that there had been&nbsp;no follow-up. Conflicts over codes were many, and he said the Bonelli tract makeover effort was particularly disastrous. City Manager Ken Striplin felt like it would be an important program to help preserve older neighborhoods, and he acknowledged that the program wasn't a particular success in the past. Mayor McLean tried to paint a rosier picture, saying that, "The good far outweighed the bad."&nbsp;But Councilmember TimBen Boydston disagreed, calling the program a failure and hoping for a re-brand at the very least. <br /><br />Boydston brought up a few other issues on the budget, but the one of most interest was likely fixing Newhall Avenue. Striplin tentatively promised re-paving by fall. The budget was unanimously approved thereafter.<br /><br />Several public hearings on fee/assessment collections and adjustments followed. Mayor McLean was a bit dismayed at the plan to increase the open space district assessment from $30 to $31.50 per household. She said that as the population grows, Santa Clarita is already collecting more revenue each year. Boydston challenged her, saying&nbsp;$1.50 wasn't that much. City Manager Striplin also noted that the cost of monitoring, maintaining, and&nbsp;acquiring open space is always rising. McLean was swayed by their arguments, so she agreed to the hike.<br /><br /><strong>Affordable Housing</strong><br /><br />Erin Lay made a&nbsp;characteristically concise presentation on an affordable housing project slated for Newhall. She explained that Santa Clarita is in serious need of affordable housing, and&nbsp;she described how&nbsp;a partnership between the City and&nbsp;other parties specializing in these projects could help make it a reality.&nbsp;Three contiguous lots in Newhall were of interest, two owned by the City (including the current park-and-ride)&nbsp;and one by a private party. Together, all three could be used to build a large residential&nbsp;complex and some&nbsp;retail space, but the middle lot owner wouldn't sell. Thus, the&nbsp;presentation was for a 30-unit project that could potentially grow some day.Depending on income of the residents, rent for a&nbsp;two-bedroom apartment could be as low as $384 per month, a fraction of rents in surrounding areas. <br /><br />Most were supportive of the plan,&nbsp;but&nbsp;concerns over water availability stretched out the discussion.&nbsp;At Boydston's urging, CLWA's Dan Masnada spoke for quite a while about how there was enough water available for the project. He said that they're anticipating serving about 500,000 people in the Santa Clarita Valley eventually, and that right now water is provided for about 280,0000 Claritans. Masnada said the equivalent of 4 years' worth of imported water is banked in Kern County, so Santa Clarita is in good shape overall.&nbsp;Reductions in water use are being made to meet state mandates, not because Santa Clarita is running out. Less reassuringly, he said that if we're in the beginning stages of a mega-drought, then "all bets are off." The take-aways from this water discussion were that drought-tolerant landscaping would be used at the complex and that 30 units of housing wouldn't bring drought and ruin to the SCV at large.<br /><br />There were also concerns over the park-and-ride that would be lost to the project. Lay stated that there are other spots&nbsp;for park-and-ride near Sierra Highway, and Striplin said that he thinks they'll be able to work out an agreement to use the&nbsp;large, unused lot&nbsp;that's currently pay-to-park for Whitney Canyon.<br /><br />Everyone voted in support of the item except for Councilmember Boydston. He said he supported low-income housing, but he felt that&nbsp;existing residents of the neighborhood should have been noticed about the project.&nbsp;They had received notification when the project went before the&nbsp;planning commission, but not before council. With that, the meeting ended.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IHeartSCV/~4/fhaUcS_-o3c" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>A Santa Claritanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447506523590861174noreply@blogger.com3http://iheartscv.blogspot.com/2015/06/open-space-aplenty-big-budget-numbers.html